I sweat.

Heavy sweater here.

Like, big ol nasty, juicy, drippy, messmakin, looking like a St. Bernard drooling kind of sweater. I have always been a guy who sweats a lot when I workout.

At 290lbs, I was in this little 24-hour gym doing everything I knew to try to get a little bit more fit. I was part of a 6am bootcamp and I was as insecure about myself as I have ever felt in my life. After completing a walk on the treadmill, a few lunges across the tiny gym, and a couple of air squats, the sweat began to seep through my pores.

As the class went on, my sweating only continued. At the end of the class, I was wiping up my mess, while at the same time I was apologizing to the gym owner. He interrupted me, placed his hand on my shoulder, and said,

“In my gym, sweat is solid gold. Don’t ever apologize for sweat when you are in here. Sweat is a sign that you are working through something or towards something, and both of those things are avoided more often than not, so keep working towards that thing…”

He paused for a moment, cracked a smile, and went on to say,

“…however, if you get light-headed, can’t breath, and start tingling, that thing you are working through might be a heart-attack, in which case stop working and let someone know.”

The second part was funny; the first part was profound. It’s nice to have things to be working towards. Hell, I appreciate having difficulties to be working through, because it sure beats sweating from the problems I have so-often wasted energy running from.

Work towards or work through; don’t run from.

Peace, Love, and all things Beef related,

Beefcake