As I pulled up to the gym’s parking lot, a few thoughts came to mind. First, parking. “Where the hell am I going to park, with the resolution crowd coming to the gym today?” Lucky for me, I go to a neighborhood community gym (and it is snowing today), so, aside from a few gym dude bros, most of the people here are regulars and older folks.
I mean, say what you will about the resolution crowd. I have a lot of profound respect for older people (late millennials, like myself) wanting to work on their fitness journey and their health, as long as they don’t take up my parking spot and the few machines that I actually use. Everyone is on their journey, and the perk of being in a community center / non-gay gym is that the people actually look normal (and you can feel kinda like the hottie)
I know. I know. People go to the gym to work out and not compare or check other people out. Counterpoint: have you talked to a gay lately?
As my 40s are drawing closer and closer, I found myself a lot more self-conscious about stuff. Mostly aging. I do have an advantage with my Vietnamese genetics, so I won’t really get big (I’ve been the same weight since 2015, pandemic and all). I’m more worried about going bald and my receding hairline. But then I looked at all my friends who have kids, and I’m like “We’re ok”
People who know me know that I don’t believe in resolutions. If I want to do something I do it right away. if I want to buy something I buy it right away. I set destination and learning goals throughout the year and I do my best to hit them. With 2024 being a rather difficult year, some months my goals were simply just “Get out of bed”, “Go to work”, and “Don’t complain today”.
So, here we are. 2025. Let’s hope and aim for a better, kinder, more meaningful year of loving ourselves, loving our neighbors, and loving our communities.
And to all my insecurities and all my anxiety about turning 40, I’d say
Pace Fine Arts 