Monday Moment #23

I found myself in a couple of intimidating situations over the weekend, both happened while subbing at my gym. First, I taught the seniors class. This is totally outside my comfort zone. It was a sort of wing it situation: a little aerobics, balance, strength, abs, and stretching. No routine, no way to know I was doing it right. And trust me, seniors know what they like and what they want.

I survived and looked forward to subbing in a Bodypump class the next day. It's my class, so I had far more confidence. No unknowns. No worries.

At least that's what I thought, until a few minutes before the class was supposed to start, and four young twenty-somethings walked in: one girl and three muscly boys. I've seen these boys. These are the ones that are out on the free-weight floor, loading huge lbs. on their bars, then grunting and moaning as they lift. They're never in class. But suddenly they were in mine. I have to say, this not typical, a group of young people attending class together. And they acted just as you would expect; they were silly and loud and a bit over confident. In other words, I had my hands full--a real instructing challenge. (Side note: I learned after class the girl was from Seattle and they give her a hard time for taking a similar class, so she challenged them to go with her to the one at their gym--my class. So they did. Let's just say, I think--I hope--they have more respect.)

But truly, in both situations, there was an intimidation factor. It got me thinking about how I handled each situation. And you know what? I thought I handled both well, but I think it was because of my age and personal confidence. I certainly wouldn't have had it in high school or college or even probably even ten years ago.

Describe an intimidating situation your character is and how do they handle it?