The Judgment Free Zone

A few years ago, I was writing a fitness column for a local newspaper. One week I was in a local bar acquiring some cold barley and hops. The guy at the counter had a copy of the paper lying on the counter, open to my last article.  He smiled and asked, “Is this you”?

Encountering Reality: The Fitness Columnist’s Revelation

Busted!  Well, maybe. Maybe not. I’m busted, if I had been leading anyone to believe that I personally have it all together:  perfect fitness, perfect lifestyle, perfect exercise routine, no hurts, habits, hang-ups; – no indulgences in this “perfect” lifestyle. If that’s what I’d been writing about, I should have been ashamed of myself. Like Doc Holiday, in the movie Tombstone; “my hypocrisy knows no bounds.”

I hope I’ve been somewhat transparent when I write, or talk to clients, by including myself with the rest of you who struggle with weight and related issues.  It’s that struggle that drew me to a gym all of those years ago in the first place.  It’s that struggle that led me to read, to get trained, and to get certified.  My personal struggle, I believe, helps me empathize with others facing their fitness challenges and struggles in other life areas.

The Power of Vulnerability in Fitness Guidance

So, I mentioned “my unbridled hypocrisy” to my Pastor, Todd, one week.  He said something interesting.  “There’s a common misconception that preachers are calling people to be like themselves. In fact, true gospel preachers are calling themselves and their audience to a higher standard and a Higher Power then themselves.  And when they preach, they are preaching to themselves as much as to their audience”.

Todd said that he had heard advice one time that one should never speak on a topic that they had not completely mastered.  He labeled it “advice from the pit of hell”. With that mindset a writer, or a speaker, would either: a) not speak to many issues at all, or b) would start to pretend that they “had it all together”.

Embracing Our Flaws: The Journey of a Fitness Professional

When you pretend you’ve “made it” in any area of life you wind up becoming aloof, and useless to whoever you’re talking to.  When we are talking about difficulties that people have, we should always includes ourselves as a fellow struggler; at least in a general sense; because we all struggle with stuff!

Identifying as “fellow strugglers” in fitness or any area of life makes us safe people; because it makes us non-judgmental people.  We should each become a walking “judgment free zone”.  By not judging someone skinnier or “buffer” then us as living a charmed life or as a “workout addict”.  We also don’t judge those who seem to be in worse shape than ourselves as lazy or glutinous or whatever else comes to mind.

We should recognize that a) it’s a good fight to fight, and b) we’re all in the battle.  When we’re all “in the battle” together, the ground is level, there’s no looking down on ourselves or anyone else.