I just realized that the one reason I don't go to the gym is that it's unfamiliar territory. In abstract theory, I know the virtues of strengthening ones body through the use of various techniques and strategies developed for that very purpose; in concrete social reality, it's unfamiliar terrain, filled with strange people, even stranger customs and - strangest of all - seemingly arbitrary demands on what I'm supposed to do and not do.
Which, as a result, means that I don't go there. Despite my theoretical grasp on the benefits of doing so.
The thing is that this isn't limited to me or the gym. We all do it, and we do it with various aspects of our lives - since we all have things we usually do and things we don't usually do. Those things we do comes naturally, those things we don't do - well, don't.
The thing about unfamiliar territory is that the unfamiliar has a tendency to become familiar after a while. You learn the ropes, the situations, the injokes, the whole ecology of relations - by virtue of just being around.
The best thing about being a newbie is, after all, that you stop being one if you persist long enough.
So. I'll be seeing you at the gym!
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