You know people sometimes poo poo the gym and the folks who attend it regularly. I think its one of those places that is often overlooked for what it is. Strange things happen to people when they are working out. They suddenly become friendly, courteous, focused and with a strange inner peace.
I'm not talking about the drop ins, or the occasional gym go-er, I mean the person you see who goes three to four times a week, someone who has developed a sort of familiarity with the place.
They will always give their fellow gym goers a nod and a friendly smile, give them the right of way in passing, let others use the machines between their sets, share a sort of strange brotherhood or camaraderie in this environment of physical stress. This seems to trancend race, religion, sex, and political opinion. At the gym, you are just another human trying to fight back against the entropic forces which make our physical forms weak. The gym almost becomes a sanctuary, or a sacred place of peace.
In the outside world you see a large muscle bound dude walking down the street and you think to yourself, 'I could never be that devoted.' But more and more I can see that this devotion could also be born not out of a desire to become physically stronger, but it becomes a sort of meditation which helps focus the mind. Couple this mantra of physical movement with the release of endorphins and all of a sudden this is no longer a chore or a hobby, but a necessity. This can become an addiction like anything else, which leads people to heights of physical prowess they never thought possible for themselves.
With these regular gym goers in their states of physical meditation, I believe there is a strange sort of positive energy that is released. You ever wonder why you seem to get better workouts at the gym than at home(even if you have the room or the equipment)? This and the positive things happening to our bodies while exercising I believe improves moods and makes us more willing to be at harmony with those around us.
