Book of Resolutions

Chapter 1

JANUARY

January was Ben's choice; he wanted to lift weights together. My doctor had prescribed weight-bearing exercises for my bone health, and I had been dragging my feet about getting started. January 2, Ben asked me to go with him to buy weights so we could begin. Ben was a life-long weight lifter and was enthusiastic about 'training' me.

"You'll love it Lou!"

"I seriously doubt it."

"No, really. A lot of women lift."

"I like your muscles, Ben, but they won't look very good on me."

"It won't look like that; you'll be lifting lighter weights."

"What if I drop a weight and break my foot?"

"You won't drop a weight and break your foot."

"How do you know?"

"I've lifted much heavier weights than you will and I've never done that."

"Just because you never HAVE doesn't mean you never WILL..."

"Lou, I can guarantee you that you won't break your foot."

"It sounds risky to me; maybe we should wait."

"No, we're gonna start today. Let's go get you some weights."

"But I don't think..."

"Never put off until tomorrow what you..."

"I'll pay you $100 not to finish that statement..."

"Let's go."

We headed to the sporting goods store to buy weights. Ben had a lot of different sizes already, but they were all too heavy for me. I sulked all the way, demanded to stop and get milkshakes or hit some sales. I tried to distract him in a thousand ways. He wouldn't budge; soon we arrived at the store.

The inside of a sporting goods store has always mystified me. I've gone all my life without kayaking, mountain climbing or playing tennis. But when I walked through the door, I was suddenly possessed of a strong desire to do all those things. The shiny, new equipment beckoned me. I wanted to look at everything and grew quite irritated at Ben's single-mindedness. He believed when you entered a store you should get what you came for and then leave. Just goes to show, he doesn't know the first thing about shopping.

I saw a display of work-out shirts that I liked and promised if he would help me choose one then I would cooperate. After prolonged debate, I chose the one that said, 'I May Look Like a Beauty but I Train Like a Beast'. I was very pleased with it. I would wear it when I lifted weights. "Beauty" was in purple, "beast" in lime green and there was a pink swirly design all around. I could conquer the world in that shirt. I was happy then and went to look at the weights. Ben was a little antsy but seemed excited to help me choose.

"We need to get you some good, standard dumbbells," Ben told me.

"OOO—I want those!"

"These?"

"Yeah! The pink ones!"

"They're only one pound, Lou. You'll need something heavier."

"Like what?"

"Try the 5-pound ones—or maybe the ten."

"But I don't LIKE that color of blue!"

"The color isn't what..."

"How 'bout the purple ones? They're cute!"

"Lou, those are only 2 pounds..."

"The green ones are nice—there's lime green in my shirt."