I feel similar about some of the folks I see at the gym. My gym is sort of tucked away in a mostly-abandoned grocery store/strip mall complex in an older more industrial part of town. The crowd of folks working out generally skews older than other gyms and I see folks missing an eye, or an arm, or older folks pausing between sets for a few chronic-sounding coughs before steeling themselves and continuing their workout. We never speak to each other, but I feel a weird kinship to them. When I watch them struggle, I want to run just a little bit longer or cram in just a few more reps because I feel like I owe it to them to try hard, to reproduce and somehow validate their work in my own life, to prove them right. It helps me get over my insecurities a bit, because my work becomes a little bit less about my own shame and self loathing and a little bit more about my respect for them and a desire to be able to say I matched the fortitude of those around me.