The Many Faces of Love
This month marks six years since I became a personal trainer. Every year, as August rolls around, I have grown accustomed to asking myself the same question: “Do you still love it?” Each time my answer has remained the same: “Absolutely.”
At a young age, I never dreamed of taking this path, or ever thought I would pursue fitness or nutrition as more than just a hobby. When asked what my favorite subject was in school, I replied without hesitation, “Anything but science.” Other than excelling at memorizing the periodic table and making clever jokes about the eye wash station (because teachers always spend a disproportionate time talking about the eye wash when school starts), that was the extent of my scientific strengths.
Neither Biology, Chemistry, nor Earth Science captivated my attention, and the decision to take Atmospheric Science in college was based solely on my hopes that it would improve my artistic skill of painting clouds. When I graduated and became an English Language Arts teacher, I was thrilled to be finished with science forever.
Or so I thought.
In the years following my teaching career, life took interesting turns as I raised babies and moved overseas, eventually landing in Portland. Strength training was something that I had begun to enjoy years earlier and was a topic that my younger brother and I could discuss for hours while we experimented with new moves and peculiar methods of eating.
After settling in Portland, fitness and nutrition became much more than just a personal interest; it became something that I desired to share with others. With the encouragement and help from my friend and trainer, Luis Bermudez, whose fitness knowledge and instruction I wanted (and still desire) to emulate, I completed my certification in hopes that I would begin my journey as a personal trainer at the box gym conveniently located two streets from my house.
Although I did not end up getting the job, I did not let that stop me in my pursuit to become a personal trainer. That day, I drove to another gym farther away in the city and handed my resume to the fitness manager, Nick Hall. He generously interviewed me on the spot, set up subsequent interviews, and completed the hiring process without delay. Even though it was not in my original plan, this location with experienced trainers and a supportive manager ended up being the perfect place to start my career. He endured my countless questions while making me role-play various situations so that by the time I was able to transfer to the closer gym, I had trained many clients and felt confident in my skills.
Several years later, I left the corporate gym to work with Luis at his studio in southeast Portland, and last summer I expanded my training locations to include northwest Portland when Lee Carson and Jeremy Hyatt invited me to join their team.
Hyatt Training
Reliquum Training Studio
Doing something daily that I am highly passionate about can only be topped by the incredible people that I have had the pleasure of training. I have met some of the most fascinating and lovely people in the world.
In the beginning, I thought I got into fitness to help others. What I know now is that my clients have helped me. They have taught me how to be a better version of myself, and they have shown me that it is worth the risk to be vulnerable. When you sweat in front of someone repeatedly and trust them to oversee your weight lifting, it can be an intimate and humbling experience. They show me how to be a kinder person and that it is admirable to ask for help. One of my clients, Michele, once remarked that each person you meet is like a “tiny little treasure box waiting to be opened.” I have had the privilege of being surrounded by many tiny little treasure boxes these past six years.
“Instructions for living a life.
Pay attention.
Be astonished.
Tell about it.”
I know the special role that I play in my clients’ lives as they are always thoughtful to express it, but I believe that I am the one who has benefitted the most from our relationship. My life has been changed for the better because they are in it. I can say with confidence that there is no greater joy in life than getting to journey with someone. If you can do it while watching them push and pull weight (with perhaps the occasional grunt), it is even better.
There is much I have yet to learn. All of the training hours accrued have given me valuable knowledge and experience, but much of it can be simplified to this: there is no perfect way to achieve what you want - you have to find what works best for you. It’s almost always easier to show up for a workout than change your eating habits, and accountability makes all of the difference in the world. And for goodness sake, “Brace your core” in everything you do!
For those of you who are young, you never know where your life will take you. You, like I, might swear off an area of study, only to find it giving you joy and becoming your passion later in life. For those of you who are older like I was when I began training, it’s never too late to pivot your direction and start something new.
Keep your eyes open.
Keep your heart open.
Don’t fully discount anything.
You never know what role you will play in someone else’s story. You never know when your help, encouragement, or time will impact a life forever. Thank you to all of you have who have played a role in mine.
You are the many faces of love.
I am the lucky one.
