Do We Have To?

Cue the scary music!  Maybe the music from the original Halloween would be appropriate.  Maybe Tubular Bells from The Exorcist would be better. Ok, music on. They are there before me and reach all the way to the ceiling of our gym. They challenge me to conquer them, but they know my fear. They have defeated me before. My classmates encourage me. The teacher smirks. He knows I will fail.  It’s time. The music reaches a crescendo as I reach out toward my nemesis.  I tell myself I can do this, but I don’t really believe it.  It’s time to climb the ropes! Do we have to?

We did have to. And, yes I failed again. Upper body strength was never my thing.  I hated trying to climb the ropes. It was embarrassing. Plus it hurt your hands!  That was just one of the many things I disliked about Junior High gym class.  But, I will get to that.

Our Junior High Gym class was not in our school. Attending required a one block walk, in all kinds of weather, to Smith Hall. Smith Hall was the site of a huge gym, locker rooms, shop classes, and band rooms.  Our teacher was Mr. Arthur Miller. He was a fit, though not muscular, man and the son-in-law of one of the town’s two undertakers.  He didn’t have much of a sense of humor. He also taught science.  We had gym twice a week in our gym uniforms purchased at Marty’s Sporting Goods. Mr. Miller was very organized.

One quarter would be volleyball, the next, basketball. That would be followed by the dreaded gymnastics. The last quarter we would do a myriad of activities, some of them  out side. I liked volleyball, though I wasn’t very good.  Basketball was fun, but I was always a pretty short guy. Doing things outside were better, especially if it didn’t involve a softball game.

Notice that I left gymnastics for last? The ropes! The pommel horse! The balance beam! The parallel bars! The vault! Uneven bars! The Rings!  For an unathletic boy like me, walking into the gym filled with equipment was like Jamie Lee Curtis walking into a scary house in Halloween.  The way I would feel, after another failed attempt at the parallel bars, was like Linda Blair in the Exorcist…head turned in circles, cursing like a demon, and ready to puke!

But I made it through! We all did. Looking back I try to think about what Junior High gym class taught me. It showed me my strengths and weaknesses. It forced me to take on challenges. It taught me the value of self-deprecating humor. It encouraged me to try new things. Maybe the most important thing it taught me was a valuable life lesson. You will have to go through things that are difficult and that you absolutely despise. But it will end. Everything has a life span…even the gymnastics section of gym class.  And who knows? The thing that follows may be the best thing you ever did in your life. For me, in Junior High, I think it was lunch. Yes, lunch! Porcupine meatballs and split pea soup! Beats climbing ropes every, single, time!