Family dinners usually follow a pattern; my mother says grace, my father thanks her for her cooking, my brother makes some joke that earns him a slap upside the head and then everybody turns to me.
First, they ask about my studies; chemistry, biology, advanced functions and physics, and then they ask about the gym; if I'm being safe, if I'm being pushed too hard, and if I could possibly spend any more time there because "it's burning me out". I give them the same answer every time; straight As and I'm feeling better than ever. This always puts them at ease, and they continue their conversation about investment and bonds, that they have been having for as long as I can remember.
I usually zone out until the conversation circles back to university and all my plans. If my mother had her way I'd be a Crown prosecutor like she was. I usually just nodded my way through all their advice trying not to let the stress get as bad as it had been a year back.
That was the reason I started going to the gym so much, the pressure was getting too much and it was the only time I could think. It was so simple and look nothing but absolute focus and sweat. Every movement was calculated and precise, but every once and a while a route comes along that challenges not only your strength but your fear and your will, and there is nothing standing in the way of achieving your goal but your brain. When you finally overcome your own head you become boundless and only then begin to soar.
