Random Yaks of Kindness

This morning at the gym, I couldn’t help but notice that a woman near me had very toned arms. I myself have never had toned arms or even felt comfortable in a tank top so I was impressed. She wasn’t overly “skinny” or “muscular” but a perfect balance of toned and still feminine. My first thought was “Wow, she looks great.” She had obviously put in some very hard work to be fit. Then she turned around to reveal a very toned abdomen as well and I witnessed her do some concentrated ab work. I debated telling her my thoughts because people don’t always welcome comments from strangers. Especially when they are busy with their own workouts and wearing headphones, which translates to “please don’t bother me.” However, as I finished my last set on my own machine, I decided to chance it anyway.

I tried to arrange my own features in a friendly expression (as opposed to a sweaty “RRRGGG, that last set was heavy,” which could be misconstrued as a hostile look, thus putting the woman on edge before I even spoke to her) and smiled as I approached her. Squatting to her level (she was sitting on a bench), I said, “Excuse me. I just wanted to tell you that I think you look amazing.” She was very gracious and thanked me and did not seem to mind the interruption at all. I also mentioned I liked her superhero socks, which she said she got in the men’s section at Walmart. Seriously, the men’s sections always have better stuff AND they’re softer.

I can only imagine my husband’s confusion at seeing me walk up to a random stranger. But then again, he knows me pretty well by now and probably knew exactly what I was doing.

As I walked away, I was glad I had interrupted a random woman’s workout to tell her something nice. I hope she was, too. I always think it would be cool if people could hear a little internal “ding” when someone thinks kindly about you. But until that science or intuition is developed, please excuse me if I ever randomly approach you to pay you a compliment. It’s only because I wanted to share something nice I thought about you. 😊 And I hope your day is better for it.

Original Post 03/2021