[silverquiet]

Life is far from fair indeed - I have a deformed hip from a childhood illness that has caused me a lifetime of pain. I should probably have already had it replaced at an age that would be several decades younger than average for that surgery, but I'm too scared of the recovery and living with parts of my skeleton replaced by metal and plastic.

That said, I started a gym routine last year to try and relieve anxiety. I'm quite limited (you have no idea how much you use your hips until you get 8/10 pain for a few days after aggravating them). So it means low-impact activities and upper-body workouts. I didn't think it would make any difference in my appearance; I just needed to move in any way I could. After a few months I started getting comments about putting on muscle and overall looking better. (I lost of lot of weight which is more attributable to cleaning up my diet concurrently to a gym routine) A co-worker I met assumed I must be ex-military which I found funny because the childhood illness I had is specifically named in their document of medical exclusions. I don't think it's any secret that people treat you better when you appear more fit, and it is something that you have some control over.

But I don't believe that looks are motivation enough to get you to the gym every day (at least for me it is not); it's much better to do it for your well-being. Ideally, you can find exercises that both workaround your injuries and that you enjoy. Also, it's not like you need to go hard at the gym for two hours a day every day of the week; just do what you can and take pride in what you are able to achieve within your limits.

I've spent a lot of my life regretting my circumstances in unhealthy ways which I ultimately regret. I can't say that everything is wonderful now or even good, but they are better.