Based in Sydney, Australia, Foundry is a blog by Rebecca Thao. Her posts explore modern architecture through photos and quotes by influential architects, engineers, and artists.
The other week, I went to check out a new gym near my job, because my doctor says I need to exercise. I walk into the gym, and all I see are lines of treadmills with people on them. These people were all dressed in matching outfits, and some were running, and some were walking really fast, and let me be honest, I felt intimidated. I was like, I am not going to embarrass myself, hell to the no. I can’t even walk and chew gum at the same time, how am I going to be able to run on that contraction. Even the old people were, running fast, I thought to myself, I can’t let these old ladies outdo me. So, I left the gym, never to return. I was thinking about going back to the gym, after all, I am paying for this membership.
So, the other day, I was driving down the road, and I begin to think on this thing, and it dawned on me, that I must allow myself to be a beginner. Those people also had to have a beginning, the did not start off being great. What I was seeing was their progress and not their starting point. I did not get to see them stumble and fall. I did not see them with the emergency cord clamped to their shirt. All I saw, was their progress. At that moment I now understood that I am only required to do the best I can. That I must do the best I can, where I am until I can do better. Once I know better, I can do better. And, to be honest, that is all life is asking us to do, the best we can, with what we have.
