“You reap what you sow“; when I first heard this quote, I agreed with its meaning. An apple seed will not grow and give you an orange. I did not utterly understand where it was pointed towards until I experienced it on my own.

Five years ago, due to some problems, I had to leave Kung-Fu classes; then, I stopped exercising completely and started eating junk food, so slowly I began to gain weight. My parents were very worried because they knew what the consequences could be for me later on. They told me to do exercise daily, but I used to skip it because I was not aware of the consequences of that moment. 

My classmates used to pick on me and compare my physique with a baby elephant because of my weight. This comparison used to make me upset. Sometimes in the winter days, I used to go out with my face hidden with a cap and kids, who used to study in my school, distraught me an aged uncle, and so, they greeted me; but when I saw them my face, they used to laugh at me. Initially, I did not really get it, but then things began coming in front of me. Stretch marks were becoming visible on my knees, thighs, and hips.
When I woke up, my legs suddenly got stuck and it hurt like anything; while playing or running, I got tired easily. These things caught my attention, but I still did not do anything.

Three years back, when I joined an Army Hostel, the turning point came for me. There, we ran every morning at 5, and then different exercises were conducted. For the first 6 months, I was the same as before: eating junk and not focusing on my body, so I went on a winter vacation to my parents’ place they were still concerned about my health. But in 2018, on the day of Saraswati Pooja, I had to visit a doctor for my ear check-up; that day I suddenly thought of running in my locality. So, I went out and hit two rounds, came back, and did some exercises. After that day, I repeated this every single day without giving a break. Changes began appearing in my body and that boosted my confidence. I began to control my diet, I skipped my regular breakfast, and started to have dry fruits, glucose, and fruit. I started talking about the realization, and during this lockdown, when I saw myself shirtless, I recalled the quote “you reap, what you sow“. I found it familiar to my condition: when I was not exercising and eating junk I was sowing the seed of stretch marks, pain in my leg, and other issues that I faced with that fat body; then, when I started exercising and controlling my diet, I sowed the seed of a healthy body, good body shape, appreciation from friends and family, a boosted confidence.

Eventually, my advice is: sow your seed with an intuition of the future so that you do not regret it when you reach there.