Oops I Did it Again…

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October 7, 2013 by little hurdles big race

It’s like a Brittney Spears song – I found myself at the gym on a Sunday morning watching Oprah’s Super Soul Sunday again.  Last time I watched the episode with India.Arie which was amazing.  It also contained the little lamb short video from Apricot Lane Farms.  If you haven’t seen it please read the Tomorrow is Too Late blog.  I need to put a disclaimer that it is very touching and you may cry – I had a number of friends text me in anger about “the damned lamb video”  HA HA!

But today was Diana Nyad (I’ll now refer you to the Your Time is Now blog).  She’s the woman who at 64 swam from Cuba to Florida in less than 53 hours.  She’s my new personal hero – not only because she accomplished her goal at 64 but because she never gave up and she never let anyone tell her what she couldn’t do.

“It wasn’t so much what did I want to do – it was who do I want to be”

“The will is so undefinable and can push you so far beyond”

Diana Nyad had so many sports scientists tell her she couldn’t swim the 110 miles from Cuba to Florida.  The human heart can’t take it, the body can’t sustain, the body cannot function ingesting that much salt water.  Her entire team believed the odds were against her – but in her soul she knew it was possible.  She was so determined that every attempt she had ever made she never left any room for ‘what if’.  Every failed attempt shocked her to the core because she never believed in her failure despite everyone else told her.  This is absolutely amazing to me because most of us have a voice we listen to that encourages us to give up – it’s ourself.  Our own voice tells us to stop.  Our own voice tells us to cheat.  Our own voice tells us there is always tomorrow.  I’ve said it before and you know it is true your mind will convince you to stop before your body will give out.  How do I know this is true?  Do you have any idea how many times I have been on the treadmill having just increased my speed or my incline for a new goal and I’ve nearly convinced myself that it was too fast, my legs are going to give out, or I couldn’t sustain the 60 minutes?  But you know what – every single time I seem to be able to walk to the car, walk up the stairs to my house…clearly I still have strength.

We all have goals big or small.  If it is important to you then it is worth it.  Don’t let anyone especially yourself stand in your way.  The best goals have a strong inner purpose.  If your goal is linked to something outside of yourself then you are setting yourself up for failure.  Example – “I want to lose weight to be popular” – losing weight isn’t going to make you popular.  You need to appreciate the friends you have now – they fit you.  If you are happy with yourself then you could appreciate you more.  I was morbidly obese and had and still have some of the best friends on the planet – I didn’t lose them when I lost the weight.  PS – those popular girls in school are bitches – steer clear.  “I want to lose weight to get a girlfriend/boyfriend”.  If you are happy with yourself then your real personality will shine through no matter what size you are right now.  We’ve all seen overweight men and women who are dating, married, living a happy life.  “I want to lose weight to be healthy”, “I want to lose weight to climb a mountain”, “I want to lose weight because I want to be the best version of me” – now these are goals I can get behind!!!

“When you achieve your goals in life it’s not what that goal gets you, but it’s who I am”

“Am I living the life I can admire?”

Diana Nyad didn’t care about the record books, didn’t care about the medals or the accolades.  She wanted to be the person she knew she could become.  Who do you want to become?  What does your goal mean for your life.  For me I am still working towards a goal. Somedays I think I’ll never get there.  Somedays I have come so close to quitting you’d be shocked.  But I keep moving forward – every step counts.  I’ve tried to get motivation from others and it has helped a little – but the only motivation that counts comes from inside you. I know that even after I reach my goal it is not what I really want.  Yes, I already feel like I have achieved so much – but it’s not enough.  What I really want is to inspire someone else – to motivate that change within someone else.  That’s what really gets me up and going, that is what makes me not quit – all of you.  I know that sounds like a contradiction – but someone telling me to go work out over and over again isn’t the same as someone who works out because they knew if I could do it then they could do it.

“Every human being on this planet has their pain and their heartache and it is our job to find our way back to light”

I know it is hard – I know it is a struggle.  Who you are now is part of your DNA – it’s your job to figure out how you got here.  Don’t let anyone tell you what you can’t do.  If you see any of my before and after photos you won’t ever see what I see.  I see one person who is the weakest person in the world – the other person is a champion.  Both are me.

I believe in you.  You have the strength to change your life.

“The clock is ticking fast, burn the candle large”