Welcome to my world!

As I walked from my car towards the gym today, a women engaged me in some"small talk". As it is on Saturday mornings, the parking lot was jam packed and we both parked basically two buildings away. It was a"boy it's cold" conversation. I said good morning, she smiled and answered the same, and before you knew it it was blah de blah de blah.....I held the door for her she said thank you and off we went in our separate directions for our workouts.I was then greeted by the manager, the two employees behind the desk and a young woman who has been coming since the beginning of the year. When she arrived in January,weight loss and getting in shape was her mission. Her Journey will take some time.....and she has certainly accepted and embraced the challenge. She was member of the month last month losing 16 pounds with her eye squarely on the road ahead. As I set myself to begin my daily stretching routine, a familiar face belonging to the first person who ever said hello to me in gym ....way back in the early Spring of 2014, greeted me with a smile and a "good morning!". One of the newly hired trainers who I met last week said good morning as well.Joe, the ex-football coach at a neighboring high school greeted me as well as a number of other familiar faces.
My thoughts went back to how anonymous I once was as I shyly spent my 45 minutes working out and trying desperately to not be noticed.In those days , if I was working free weights, I worked in a space no bigger than half of  a jail cell. Fort that pieriod of time, that little space was my safe haven. If I was working cables, I literally worked the four stations of the bar in front of me,again an area about 4' by 4'.
Today, things are quite different. My workouts start with a stretch. I carve out a piece of floor,probably 8' x 8', maybe a little bigger and begin my routine. It doesn't matter where in the facility I do this....as long as there is a spot, I'll stake my claim (preferably with a mirror!). Depending on which part of my body I am concentrating on that day, I make my way through this 20,000' space as if I was the mayor. I smile at people ,wave at people, nod at people and always acknowledge anyone working out near me.
I don't draw attention to myself . I am not loud. I don't grunt and groan. I don't slam weights down or let bars slam together making a clanking sound which to be truthful is unnecessary. I don't engage in small talk as I like to move at a steady pace. My workouts are all about the same....stretching....3 sets of 6 different skills and then some cardio.......some days a little more cardio than others.
Then it's off to pick up my keys,passing both the training desk and the front desk, bidding all a nice day before heading home.Today, as I grabbed my keys, the same woman I had walked in with was heading out as well. Once again, I held the door ,we walked towards our cars, wished each other a pleasant afternoon and cautioned each other to stay warm.
It was just another typical day at my gym!
Shavua Tov!