Everyone comes to lifting for a different reason.
Obviously for some it's women, and wanting to be desired by the opposite sex is about as close to a primary instinct as I can think of - I don't know anyone that it means absolutely nothing to. Others come to make themselves better at another activity. Some wish to imrpove their general health. Sadly a few come because they feel inadequate, have been picked on, or have a compelling desire to alter themselves and be different. For many it's a blend of all of them.
It's not so much why you started lifting but what keeps you lifting. Find a long term lifter that's been at it for a good portion of his/her life, 10 years is long enough to have worked through whatever phase they were in that first got them in the gym. Many will be married with kids, others will be out of the picked on high school phase and will have put on enough muscle to not be a target - plus few 30 year olds spend their time hassling people. Others will have finished their competitive careers.
Ask them why they are still there. You can see it in their eyes that they love it. Whether it's moving heavy weight, the feeling of satisfaction after a good set, or just the general glow and positiveness that it brings to their lives outside the gym - they all love it, it's a part of them, and it brings happiness into their lives.
I recently had to take what was around a year and a half off due to multiple injuries, family, and career issues. I missed it the whole time. Sometimes I'd look in the window and see some kid struggling with 135 with his 4 friends around and I wished that I could do that just once without pain. To feel the weight move, to enjoy a meal afterward with your head charged with endorphins, to go to sleep at night knowing you improved yourself, to know that no matter how bad a day you are having the barbell will be waiting for you. You don't appreciate what you have until you find yourself unable.
I'm getting back into it now as a few things have settled and I've rehabed myself well enough to handle it (and I've been injured more than enough before this too). A few things I've learned. Spend your time well in the gym. Look around between sets and enjoy it. Enjoy how the bar feels on your back even if you used to consider it uncomfortable. Don't think so much about how good things will be after you've achieved whatever goal that got you in there. Think about how good things are right now on the way. There is no dress rehersal in life. The day will come for all of us when we slowly find ourselves unable to do the things we love. Get every ounce out of it now. We focus too much on the future destinations of life's paths rather than the far far greater number of days we spend walking and enjoying the paths we take. Today will never come again.
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