Serena Williams, Michelle Obama, Michael Phelps... what do they have in common? They are dedicated. They are tough. They are strong. They are badasses. And you know what? So am I. And so are you. We are our own superheroes!
Life is tough sometimes. Or maybe not even life. Maybe just a day, or a week, or a moment. Maybe it's a workout or a class. During my cycle classes I am always yelling, "you are tough! You are strong! You are fast!" I recently started telling them to find their inner badass! We all have it, sometimes we just have to will it out!
Several weeks ago, I ran a marathon. I had no desire to do a marathon. I didn't train for a marathon. But. My inner badass came out and I completed a marathon! And. It was amazing! My friend, Erma had wanted to do one for her 50th. She had signed up by herself and was getting nervous, so I (being the good friend I am) said I would do it with her. I signed up about a month before the race. Although I have ran several races and a handful of half marathons, I had not been running lately. The most I ran before the race was six miles. (Not smart)! Erma wasn't too far ahead of me. (She also dug deep and found her inner badass)! After the race, my feet were bruised and it hurt to walk. (I mean black and blue all along the outside of both feet...from 26 miles of pounding. It felt like someone had taken a hammer to my feet). However, I am so happy I did it. It was an amazing, happy experience. (And I can officially call myself a marathoner)!
I am a big fan of self affirmation. Tell yourself you are going to be great and chances are you will. My son is a baseball player. There have been games when he says, "This team is really good. We are going to lose." Well, yes. If that is what you believe then that is what will happen. Some days are tough. Sometimes it's hard to get to the gym or lose the weight, or find a job. It's not the challenge that makes us who we are, it's how we handle that challenge. Tell yourself over and over how awesome and amazing you are and handle it with dignity and grace!!
Now, with all that said... I don't always think I'm a badass. I don't always walk around saying to myself, "I am amazing!" But, I'm getting better and better about wearing that title! I remember being a teenager in Sunday school and we would have to list things we liked about ourselves and things we may want to work on. The "work on" list was always longer. It was hard to list all the good stuff. Even if I did like some things, I didn't want to come across conceited. It was much easier to ignore the good things and list what I needed to work on. I was very insecure and suffered with body image and eating disorder issues well in to my twenties. (Early thirties if I'm being honest). Even now I have days where I'm not feeling like the rockstar I know I am. In fact, after I ran the marathon I was looking at pictures from the race. First thing I thought when I saw those pictures? "Ugh! Look how huge I look! Why do my legs look that big?" I am not even kidding. I had to slap myself around and say, "hold on their sister! You just ran a f***ing marathon!" I need to celebrate this body not tear it down!
We are AMAZING! We are STRONG! We are FAST! We are BADASSES! I'm telling you... make it your new mantra. Nobody has to hear you repeat it to yourself over and over, but if you want to shout it from the rooftops be my guest! Try it. You will amaze your badass self.
xoxo
"You owe it to us all to get on with what you're good at." - W. H. Auden
