A dejected amateur weightlifter took to Reddit's popular r/fitness subreddit March 18 to tell a woeful story about a bad solo trip to the gym.
The 19-year-old user, /u/GnashBrowns, fell a few times and said some rude gym rats laughed at his plight.
This left him feeling demoralized and he reached out for help...
"I always say don't be afraid of failure, because how far can you really fall? You found out - to the ground. It's right there. Now you know it isn't anything that should scare you.
You should be proud that you weren't afraid - not embarrassed that you failed. You could have made excuses not to walk into the door, but you didn't. You knew it would be hard, and it would be uncomfortable, and it might be awkward - and you did it anyway. That's courage.
I'm proud of you.
The last guy I rooted for broke a world record in the deadlift. You have more in common with him than you think.
First, he started out lifting just the bar, too (when you look at him, he may have been 3 months old at that point). Second, imagine his courage. He walked up to that bar in front of a big audience and television cameras, knowing that not only had he never lifted that much before - NO ONE on earth had - and it was highly likely he would completely fail. You may not think about it this way, but you showed that courage, on a smaller level.
Finally, I'm rooting for you, too. You took the first step and you fell, but at least you fell in the right direction, so get back up and take the next step. Keep moving forward."
"/u/GovSchwarzenegger told me he's proud of me and that he is rooting for me. I'm never going to let him down, /r/gainit, and most importantly myself.
Really at a loss for words right now, but all of this brought me to tears. I've never felt this empowered in my life and I can't thank you all enough. You all made today pretty fucking awesome."