Fit4Miracles

“You wanna learn to box sometime?”

It’s like one of those moments when you turn to look to see if someone is behind you. He couldn’t possibly be talking to me. I was about 14 weeks into my plan and seeing some of the benefits of my new-found determination. I was sticking to my basic elliptical for 25-30 minutes and doing some machines, ab work, and free weights. Kind of a creature of habit. Kind of scared to try new things. Hmm. . . .

“Yeah, I would!”

Where’d that come from? Fourteen weeks ago I would have said, “No, I couldn’t possibly do that, “ but now I had actually said I would try something new.

“Okay, the next time you are in and I don’t have any clients, I’ll teach you.”

Ben was one of our trainers at Miracles; I figured he was just being nice, and I quickly hoped that maybe he would forget the whole thing. The next time that I went in I tried not to make eye contact. Maybe he will forget.

“Hey, you ready to box tonight?” Nope, didn’t forget. I was going to have to go through with it. I really did want to, but I was afraid of looking stupid. Afraid to fail.

“Okay, but this is not a personal training session. This is just boxing. And we have to go behind the wall where no one can see.“

Little did I know that I was in for a surprise. Ben taught me the first couple of hits, your basic 1-2. He coached me on my stance and how to hold my hands up. He taught me how to jab and push through. It was 10 minutes, but dude, I was hooked.

Boxing?!   Me?!  Yep, I found out that I liked to hit things; I loved the smack of the glove on the target. I loved the way the gloves felt on my hands; I even bought my own shiny blue pair. I started boxing about 3 times a week. I found myself boxing to Rihanna at home; the kids were running around with their little hands boxing in the air. I was boxing to my reflection in my double oven. What would Martha Stewart say about that?! We started learning harder sequences and different punches and eventually added some kicks. The 25-30 minutes went way too fast. I wasn’t perfect at it, but it was fun.

It was the ideal combination of a well-trained, educated trainer, whose personality and encouragement were perfect for me, and an exercise that I had no idea that I loved. I truly felt blessed to have such a surprise at that point in my journey. I needed something to break the monotony. I needed something to challenge me. I needed something to get me out of my shell. I needed something to teach me about courage, confidence, and change (see Aha Moment series – part 5).

Ben has moved on from Miracles to new challenges, but I will always be grateful for that time that he let me beat him up on a regular basis. : ) And as I wait for a new boxing partner to come along or come back, I’m thinking about getting a boxing bag for the garage . . .