“When we prioritize something, we have time for it no matter how busy we are, which is how I manage my time for fitness. I have a busy work schedule, with varying shifts. But I try to commit at least an hour and a half to fitness as I consider it crucial for my health. Visiting the gym is not a necessity for this. You can have light workouts at home. Along with physical fitness, it contributes to mental wellbeing. It can be lifting at the gym, doing yoga, meditation or just taking your dog for a run. Exercise gives you a sense of contentment and happiness. To keep my body moving makes me feel good. I have been working out for over six years with two years at the gym. Time management between the two is the biggest struggle I have faced. Finding motivation after a tiring shift at work can be difficult too. But every time I feel demotivated, I remind myself why I do it. If something benefits you mentally then you have to get over any obstacle that gets in your way.
I was born and raised in Thimphu and spent 7 years studying medicine in Sri Lanka. In school, I was never into working out. Even though my father always urged me to take up physical exercise I didn’t. I had put on weight after I returned from college and this affected my self-confidence because people tend to comment on one’s physical appearance. So I decided it was time to take up fitness even though I hold the belief that looks aren’t everything and we should be happy with ourselves, close to me.
My mother is my greatest supporter. She is a firm believer of discipline and in the fitness world or life in general, that is really important. She is a cancer survivor. She battled through it all by herself when she was working in Cambodia. She has gone through a lot and what inspires me about her is that despite everything she comes out stronger each time. My parents are both working in the medical field so being a doctor was all I dreamt of becoming while growing up. Sometimes I wonder whether or not I made the right choice for my career, which everyone feels once in a while I guess. Especially when we feel like we are under-appreciated for the work we do. But at the end of the day, when we know what we do and how it helps others, the satisfaction it brings is good enough for me. We do have sad moments when we wonder what more we could have done to make a difference in a patient’s life. There is a saying, “Every doctor lives with a graveyard in themselves,” which I feel is relatable. Something that lifts up my spirit, no matter what, is that despite being petite, my physical abilities are pretty impressive. The biggest growth in my journey came in the last two years when I learned about myths regarding fitness. This changed my mindset.
My advice to people is that we generally take up fitness to change the way we look, which is not always as satisfying as doing it to feel better. We could do it to feel genuinely good about ourselves and become physically stronger.”
– Urvashi Sharma
