Motivated Monday ~ Going For Gold

One of the best times of the year are when the Olympics come around!  I’ve always loved the Olympics growing up, especially the Summer Games because I used to want to be a gymnast.  I remember watching Dominique Dawes as a kid.  I remember Shawn Johnson and Nastia Lukin.  And this year I watched Gabby Douglas along with the rest of the Fab5 win Gold for Team USA.  And I didn’t get to watch it yet, but I’ve been cheering for days for her being the first African American woman to nab the Gold in the Women’s All Around.  She’s a champion and already on a box of cereal! 

 

 

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Watching her, I had tears in my eyes, and down my cheeks! lol That’s no surprise!  I am very emotional.  But it was more than just watching the Americans win….it was all that she sacrificed, and her mom and siblings…to get there.  And watching her perform gave me the motivation, the determination, the drive to see myself accomplish my goals.  It was the pep talk I needed when I was beginning to doubt myself.

The way an athlete can press forward even when sick, even with something broken, even with all that is going on in their life…they block it out.  The suck it up, stick their chest out, lift their head up high and push.  They perform at 110% because 100% isn’t good enough.  They see the prize and a straight shot to it…nothing else matters.  The entire time they’re telling themselves “You got this”  “It’s yours”  “Go get it it”.  Not just athletes but successful business people too.  

What happened to that Aria from college?  The one that said, yes I’m going to take on more than a full load of coursework and work full time because I had one goal, one vision…it was to get to ECU.  Yes that was one of my hardest semesters I’ve ever worked, but I got it done and passed everything and if I recall, maintained my 3.0 GPA that semester.  The Aria who said, yes it’s sensible and practical to apply to more than one school…but I knew otherwise.  I was going to ECU.  End of discussion.  So what did I do?  I applied to ECU and ECU only.  And while my friends were getting denied and waitlisted…I got right in.  What happened to that Aria who could have taken her time at ECU and finished in 5 years instead of 4; but who put in the hard work, made Honor Roll twice, went to Summer Sessions and walked across that stage in December 2004 at 5 months pregnant after coming to ECU in August of 2002???  What happened to her???

Well I can’t answer what happened to her…other than something called life and getting off track. Sometimes we lose sight of our goals.  Sometimes it takes something happening in our life or in someone close to us for us to snap back and realize that we’ve come too far to give up.  Watching Gabby’s story…knowing how hard a gymnast or any athlete trains, knowing the financial burden on her family, knowing that she quit and came back to realize her dreams…that’s part of my snapping back.

I think I’ve mentioned before that it’s hard to verbalize really, but between my moment of peace at the beach and this past week of the Olympics…it’s helping me to snap back and realize that what I want is mine for the taking.  And I’m not letting anything stand in my way…including my own self doubt.  I realize that I’m taking on a lot at one time but this week I’m going to show myself that I can handle the heat in the kitchen.  It’s all about sticking to a schedule and staying balanced like a well-oiled machine.  That’s exactly what I’ll be doing.  And when I’m sitting at work talking to another ignorant customer and I’m thinking how am I going to make it Lord?  I’m going to know that I will.  I’ve been preparing myself to better cope with work this month.  I’m taking my Bible to work with me this week.  I’ve downloaded some of my gospel songs that really do it for me.  I’m recommitting to reading my PUSH book and write down my thoughts.  And on top of that, the blogging and working out are all ways to help me keep it together during this phase of transition.

Bottom line is Gabby Douglas went for her Gold.  I’m going for my Gold.  Are you going to go for yours?

 

 

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