I would like to say that I could easily get used to having two people constantly adjusting the hem of my curtain three times a day, but this evening when I returned to my room to find it cleaned mid-dinner, and three people fixing the hem of the curtain while also re-organising all the toiletries I had scattered across the bathroom floor, I suddenly felt as if someone had put a tail on me. My calves are bruised badly from the snowboard boots, and I cannot even say it out loud because here everyone is a winter-sports enthusiast and I hate snowboarding. I am told that Wolfgang will be my instructor. I think that’s pretty gangster name. I would prefer having my legs attached to two separate boards, especially when it comes to the T-bar lift. After the curtain was finally sitting exactly where it apparently ought to sit, I resumed the YouTube tutorial I had paused earlier and trained my muscle memory on how to ski before going back to the dinner table. Downstairs, at the table, I waited for the crème brûlée .
“What’s that?” he said, leaning forward with his arms on the table, wrists folded calmly. “I mean, if you want to become great, you have to suffer.”
“But do you want to get great at Pilates? Or does getting great at Pilates specifically require doing it in a hot room?”
“That’s part of the game. Some people just want to get there without doing the hard work. I don’t like most of the things I do, but I know they are necessary for my success. That is why only a few people become truly great.”
“But don’t you think the purpose of Pilates isn’t competition? Why do you even go to Pilates?”
“That is just what you think. That is not really how it works. Just suffering doesn’t mean you get great. What is the point of hating what you do for greatness? ”
“What I am trying to say is that in order to get to the top three you cannot always love everything you do, or enjoy all the steps. If you always go after what is enjoyable then you will be average.”
The crème brûlée arrived at the table and the smell of caramel sliced quietly through the conversation, and no one dared to re-enter the topic of hot Pilates ever again. I have been to one of those horrible hot Pilates classes. I almost fainted. It did not give me the winner mindset. It only worked magic on my state of mind, because I suffered so much in that heat that there was not a single thought in my head except downward-facing dog.