this was a popular refrain in my childhood. i was four years younger than my older sister and i loved to taunt her. in turn, she loved to hit me back 10 times harder. she was nice about it, she would warn me. i would hit her and then she would chant the words that my little self loved to hear, “hit me again and i’ll hit you back 10 times harder”. the words were both thrilling and terrifying as every time it set into motion a chain of events that i couldn’t bare not to follow through with.

there was just something about the challenge. i knew after i hit her again, she would at some point hit me back. i don’t know if it was always 10 times harder, but it was always hard, painful and almost tear-inducing. the anticipation of waiting for the hit, cause you never knew when it would come, was a big part of the fun.

every week i go to the gym and workout with a personal trainer. i would highly recommend this activity to anyone; a workout induced by a trainer is so much different than what you would do on your own. one of the trainers that i work out with has been determined to make me hurt in the days following my workout. each time i see her, she asks if i was in pain after the last workout and i always answer that i wasn’t. this drives her crazy because she thinks that unless you are sore for a day or two after a workout, you haven’t worked out hard enough.

yesterday morning i went to the gym and met up with this trainer. she decided that today was the day that i was going to feel pain. she put me through the paces and made me whimper and scream. i realized at some point during the workout that the two of us have been playing a game much like the game that i used to play with my sister. each time she asks me if i am sore after a workout, i am proud to answer no. it’s sort of a “is that all you got sister?” kind of thing, even though i know in answering as i do that it’s going to cause me future pain. i essentially want to egg her on, get her to kill me and then i want to tell her again that no, i didn’t experience any pain.

so, am i sore today? no, of course not : ).