Let Positivity Reign

Hey guys!

We just finished up a softball tournament in which we made it to the semi-finals-one game shy of the championship. We did, however, beat our rival team which to me is far more glorious a victory trophy over the physical one! Point is: the nights have been LATE, so my apologies in not getting this out sooner.

I thought I'd share with you this week an email I received from a follower of my blog. Throughout my journey, I have received words of encouragement from this person who has always seemed to have my back in times of self-doubt (oftentimes unbeknownst to the follower). The message was so powerful to me and applicable to many who are being critical of themselves or maybe didn't perform the way they hoped that I thought I should share it. Having a support system is fantastic but having someone be able to pinpoint the raw emotions you feel and be able to harness that into a positive message that motivates you to do more, run farther, or get back on that horse is priceless.

The message reads as follows:

I personally think you're being too hard on yourself. The first thing to consider is whether you completed the 13.1 miles you set out to complete. Check

Maybe you didn't do it at the pace you intended, but who determined that pace? You did. What criteria did you use? An arbitrary one. Regardless of your pace, the bottomline is that you endured a pre-race injury, and you completed a major accomplishment despite of it.

We all have to establish a foundation and then work up from there. Just because I run 13.1 for workouts now doesn't mean I started out at that distance. Like you, I began somewhere and then worked my way up to it. My last two runs have been at a slower pace, but more importantly, I completed each one.

You're going to experience ups and downs along the way. That's your body's way of adjusting to the stress it's enduring for you.

Be proud! You deserve to feel good about what you did. There will always be another event in which you can test your mettle, but isn't it great to now be focused on how fast can I run this half in lieu of will I be able to finish this half?

Now that you know you can finish, isn't it liberating to take on other thoughts? Relish in that freedom. Relish in the fact that your body will only get stronger and faster in time. The key is to be patient. Give yourself the time you need to get where you want to go. Traffic jams are only frustrating if you didn't leave yourself enough time to get where you wanted to go. Am I right?

Speaking of being right, you have the right to feel what you feel. You have the right to be disappointed in your performance. You do! But don't let those negative feelings ever sideline you from taking the next step. You're not crazy. You're a strong, independent woman, braced to accept more physical challenge, and I believe in you.

I feel like many parts of this message could be a mantra to pick anyone up, dust them off, and send on their way towards their goals. Whenever I get to the point of no return, a supporter and friend will send me a text out of no where telling me to keep it up or a water bottle or a powerful email. I am grateful to these people that do not question where I've been, but rather lift me to excel and create new goals. It really is remarkable. This journey has become so much more than just losing weight and getting fit. It's become a basis for a lot of how I perceive the world, my relationships with others and my views on the meaning of life.

My last post talked about getting in the slumps and touched on letting negativity rule your life. It's so easy to fall into the pit and let one decision snowball into many others. For me, that was the foot injury, the poor performance on the run, and then the subsequent lack of cardio training and then, ultimately, eating poorly again. What follows after that is letting your guilt from neglecting those other things feed into your thoughts and even your relationships. If you are stressed, the stress becomes that much more intolerable. You are more likely to let negative thoughts in because you don't have an outlet.

So my word of advice for today is to relish in the freedom that you accomplished something...but not too long because you are only sowing and watering the temptations you have worked so hard to stray from. Harness the positive in your life (even when it comes from strangers) and begin setting short term goals immediately.