Today was a banner day! It was the first time I've been back to the gym to lift weights since a couple of weeks before my Aug. 31 surgery.
It was wonderful to feel the same familiar muscle tautness, the same painful yet strangely pleasureable aches, the same feelings of challenge and uncertainty followed by the same sense of accomplishment. Muscle memory, indeed.
Tomorrow I'm probably going to ache like hell, but I look forward to it.
I've been reading some recent postings on three blogs on Zen Buddhism to which I subscribe (thank you and deep bows to Mike, Brad and Nishijima-sensei) that address the mental and physical aspects of existence. The gist of the postings is, if I understood them correctly, that we get into trouble when we try to seperate two things that are inherently one -- that is, when we try to consider our physical aspect without taking into account our mental (and spiritual) ones, and vice versa.
As much as I love to read about Zen and other paths to awakening and discovery, today's trip to the gym hammered that point home better than words. Sitting here sipping tea and typing this, I feel very much at peace, yet also very much ready to jump into just about any physical activity I can think of.
I had been feeling depressed and sorry for myself lately, but not now, not at this very moment, and I know why.
Through negligence, I tried to separate the inseparable.
I guess I missed going to the gym more than I ever knew.
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