Why you need to Workout: A Whole New Picture

I see these girls standing there in the hallway with sad faces. Then I looked around the crowded place to find smiles, I found none. There was only stress, depressions, and anxiety on every face. All these people carried burdens of hatred and jealousy for others, quite obvious from the way the talk to each other. The negativity around them is just too much to bear with. The aura is grave, dark and frightening as if it warns happiness to stay away. All of it is enough to destroy an innocent heart that smiles. I am not here to judge I know life today is rough. The inflation monster has harmed all and the other 95% of the problems that a child is born with in this country. All I am here to tell you is, you still have that 5% of the deal to be happy about.

Despite all these problems you can still be happy it’s about time we take baby steps out of this demon. So to get rid of the negativity you have to start from the core. First you need to build yourself to build everyone around you. A ten minutes workout a day would do you good more than you can ever estimate. No matter how hectic your schedule may be just ten minutes for your health. There is no chance of an excuse.  There will be a little resistance in the start by you mind. Motivate yourself mentally it’s all the mind game. Once your mind is ready to accept this new challenge then make it a habit by adopting it as a lifestyle.

Most of the people I talk to are like hey I am not fat why should I exercise?  Change this old fashioned narrow perception. Workouts are not only to lose weight they are to nourish and strengthen your body, mind and soul. A skinny person with a bad temper needs to exercise more desperately than a fat person does.

Workouts would not only bring all the health benefits or the social appreciation or how it makes you ready to take over the world. I tell you a whole new of the story. Workouts make you beautiful on the inside and this beauty is the positivity that brings along all the happiness. It ignites a light so irresistibly hard to ignore and I’m not talking about the physical charm here. That is a plus too though. What I meant is it creates tolerance of accepting others just as they are, giving others the space to learn and grow. Make you see a new perspective of every situation. To see the bigger and the brighter picture that was out of sight when you were frustrated and depressed.

Positivity that comes with exercise would make you see that this life provides endless opportunities to make your own adventures in your own best ways. The sinful damaging acid that eats you up called jealousy would be gone. I don’t have time for hating others for their accomplishments; I’m too busy making my own. You would learn to appreciate others for their achievements.

As they say beauty lies in the eyes of the beholder. This world would become a beautiful place when you yourself are free and beautiful. Let go of this burden that holds you down to the ground. After every workout you would appreciate yourself. Discover a whole new level of your tolerance and stamina, a whole new meaning to life. Let it bring out the best in you. So are you working out to meet a better you?

My Idea of Teamwork

Today we were given a role-play to display an effective teamwork in the class. This activity brought back my experience of leading a team. Here is my idea of teamwork…

My cousins Zaib, Zohaib and I were looking forward to see our cousin Nida after a very long time. All of us girls were in college while Zohaib was in primary school back then. This was my team. I call us a team because we were always on a mission.

I was the accepted leader without a question. I knew how to lead so they followed with respect. OK I exaggerated a little; they love me for my compelling ideas of adventure. There was no hierarchy in this team based on anything, and everyone could come up with better ideas.

When Nida arrived we planned a party at Zaib’s place. We stayed up all night watching movies and eating delicious pasta Zaib made. Then at dawn we went upstairs on the rooftop to watch the sun rise. Watching sunrise had become our ritual since childhood and we wanted Nida to experience it too. We would sit in the cool breeze, singing our favorite songs and view our beautiful town at its best.

They were singing the song Crush by David Archuleta when I got up to look around the place. Next to Zaib’s house I discovered a deserted school building.

 “Who would be in there at this hour?” I inquired.

“Probably the watchman and his wife” Zaib replied carelessly and continued showing off how she knew every single word of the song. However I got her attention when I paused and gave her THE SMILE.

 “Don’t even think about it” she said firmly.  

“Just come here and look, it’s hardly a step away” I uttered excitedly.

It looked so easy from up there but there are always two sides of every story. Unfortunately we could only see one side of it.

The roof of the school was almost 5 feet below Zaib’s house roof. And around the house’s roof there is 3 feet wall. So the plan was to step on the wall and jump in the school territory. Once inside the school the person would touch a class room and come back. And that was all.

“One person at a time, but if you hear anything the two staying up here would pull this person back. So who is going first?” these were the cautions carefully implemented by their SMART leader.

Zohaib being the restless little boy insisted but I had to refuse. “If you go down there we would not be able to reach you and you might get stuck there forever!” I cried making a scary face. Well half of it was true but he didn't buy it. So I quickly made up some crazy geometry laws to make him believe. And it worked.

One thing that I admire about my team is they have always trusted me no matter what. Even when they didn't understand my messed up ideas of adventures they would still follow me with great loyalty and respect.

Then I turned to face my girls for a response. Nida who was a little suspicious about my plan, she insisted in a challenging way, “Why don’t you go first, you are the tallest after all.”

 That was fair enough so I agreed with enthusiasm; I was like Bring It On! Both my girls helped me climb the wall and jump into the school building.

Foolish mistake here was I should have added the 3 feet height of the wall into the 5 feet below it, making it a total of 8 feet. The jump gave me rashes but it didn’t matter, my team was happy and so was I. Once inside the school territory I watched all my cousins cheering and appreciating me, I waved back. Just when they calmed down I heard a sound behind me. Before I could think straight I heard an abrupt shriek from above, “I can hear footsteps climb back up now!” It was Zaib.

I replied relentlessly, “Ok calm down, I’m coming.”

It was then when I figured there was no way to climb back up.

“Just pull me up guys!” I yelled back, the ease in my tone has disappeared somehow.

 I stepped on a brick still my buddies could hardly reach my hands. Just when they started pulling I tripped over the brick. I quickly stepped back again displaying perseverance and tried to reach for their hands. Perseverance and tolerance is what it takes to become a great leader. 

Sadly this was not getting me anywhere as it became more of a tug-of-war. I realized there was no way I could ever climb up a flat wall. Yes this was the other side of the story. I looked at Zaib with intense anxiety on my face and said almost in a whisper “I can’t, there’s no way back!”

Zaib my childhood buddy did the most unexpected thing; she fell down on the floor laughing. She was laughing so hard rolling on the floor holding her stomach. She was out of sight but I could hear her laughter, crazier than that I started to laugh too. Zohaib joined us.

As it appeared Nida was the only sane person there, maybe because she was new to such circumstances. So she kept pulling me by my hands with deep panic set on her face. She realized the seriousness of it and how much trouble we could get in from here.

Nida was pulling me up and an eleven year old boy who didn’t make much of a difference. This was ridiculous, we needed Zaib’s help. All I could see from down there was Nida shouting down at Zaib, who was lying on the floor laughing. 

Zaib managed to rise up with tears in her eyes and started to help still laughing. The sun was up and we noticed a man walking on the road could clearly see all this fuss.

“Oh great we make the best awkward moment of this year” I muttered in frustration. Hanging in there I saw this man hiding his smile. “Just pretend you live in that School and right now shaking hands with your neighbors” said Nida. At this they both busted in to laughter and Zaib went out of sight again… 

“Oh Come on! Can you not hold it for a while so that we can help her!” I heard Nida shouting at Zaib. It was so messed up how do I get myself into situations like these? I thought to myself.

Few minutes later Zaib appeared again and started to help. We didn't have much time left then. Fortunately they somehow managed to help me climb up which I still wonder how. Was it them or was it my unleashed art of climbing up flat walls? Both ways it was amazing!

Phew! Once on the safe land we all fell down out of exhaustion and then followed laughter. I slapped Zaib on her head for her stupidity.  “I’m in the middle of a nightmare and all you do is laugh?” I demanded laughing.

“Oh the look on your face when you said it” Zaib cried out laud, all three of them laughed harder.

This is my wonderful team who taught me all I needed to learn about teamwork and leadership. The most amazing things in life are learned in the most astonishing ways.

Rebuild

Sometimes we find ourselves living so many different lives at the same time. For myself I can say I have lived many fairytales. Funny how none of them had a happy ending but still there is no end to it. When you lose track of what’s real and what’s not, just remember there is not much difference. In this life the most real things would end like a dream, whereas most ridiculous dreams might turn into grave realities. The good part is nothing will stay the same.  It’s versatile; it keeps changing from one form to another.

Change is good. It helps you learn, understand and see more than you ever did. Guides you to discover yourself and what you desire to be. No matter how rough and despised but allows you endless possibilities simultaneously. It grows you to be countless different versions of yourself. You become this unpredictable person who knows more and trusts less. The one who holds several little parts of failures and heartbreaks weaved into one unmatched personality. It breaks you down, only to build a better you again.