Ever since I was a little kid I wanted to be a superhero.
When I was four I’d run around and jump off of furniture in the house in my underwear, my sister’s kneesocks and a makeshift cape shouting out that I was “Mr. Nobody Man!”
Then when I was a little older, I became fascinated with comic books. I devoured old comics of Spiderman, Superman, Batman, the Flash, the X-Men, the Green Lantern and the Fantastic Four.
All my favorites were confident, muscular and fearless.
It’s probably not too surprising that I always wanted to be that way too.
My transformation began when I was in high school. My girlfriend had just broken up with me. She was my second girlfriend who broke my heart by dumping me out of the blue!
I was so upset and angry, that I vowed this would never happen to me again. Instead, I’d become impervious to heartbreak. I decided I would workout to build the perfect body. Then both my exes would be jealous when I became a stud and all the other girls wanted me.
Having been a bookworm who had been nonathletic my entire life, this might have seemed like a strange direction to some.
But as a hormone driven teen, it made total sense to me.
(Clearly I still had a lot to learn about relationships.)
So at the age of 17, driven by this silly reason, I ferociously began lifting weights and running.
I never did achieve the perfect body.
Instead, over the years, working out has given me far more.
- Self-confidence
- Discipline
- Pride
- Longevity
Now after 30 years of weight lifting, running, swimming, biking and rolling around on the floor, I am grateful for those long ago breakups that led me down a lifelong path to fitness and health.
Whatever happened with the exes? A few years later, I ran into each of them on separate occasions. On the outside, I probably looked much the same.
But inside, my belief in myself had grown exponentially.
I had learned to take on new challenges. Not only had I gotten in great shape, I walked-on to my college wrestling team. I trained for a triathlon. I swam across the Allegheny River and became a lifeguard. I had dated a bunch and even had a few more long-term relationships.
When I spoke to my exes, I was able to sincerely wish them the best. I remembered our good times fondly and now realized that our breakups were just part of growing up. (I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t just a little bit delighted that I also knew I looked better than when we were dating.)
I was no Super Hero, but I had learned that I no longer needed to be one.