- Little Miss Strong's Little Tip #3: TRUST YOURSELF!!! Peace, strength, and success will follow. I claim it's true...a Yogi teabag claims its true...so???
I woke up this Sunday morning (and for all you gym rats and
athletes, you happily know what that means, because Sundays are usually rest
days) and poured a steamy cup of ginseng tea before breakfast. I sat at the
counter with my mug, thinking about all the topics I could write about today…I
was honestly having a lot of trouble deciding.
And then…I looked down into my mug as herbs spiraled around,
and noticed that there was a note on my Yogi tea bag. That tiny folded piece of
paper simply said, “Trust creates peace.” Those 3 tiny words, are what today’s
advice is centered around.
We usually don’t trust our bodies. When we start something
new, like lifting weights, yoga, a new sport…we don’t know what we’re doing. At
all. And it’s REALLY embarrassing. When you don’t know how to do something, you
risk looking painfully hilarious to everyone around you who is watching. Starting
something new is stressful. When I started sprinting, I looked like a dying
fish out of a bowl. My arms would spiral out of control and in the beginning,
my legs looked like I was a twisted piece of licorice. All my friends were good
sprinters…as in, state ranked and nationally top ranked sprinters. And I would be
training with these people, knowing that no matter how much they loved me, they
were trying SO hard to hold back from laughing. My coach would have us all
start in lanes on the track next to each other and start his watch, and
everyone would take off as fast as they could… which was great! For them.
They’d be 100 meters in front of me looking like a fire flame and I’d cross the
finish line and have to bend over on the grass with my head on the ground. I physically
and mentally felt ridiculous. And the bummer is…when you’re new and
inexperienced, aka not proficient at something, people do not take you
seriously, because you aren’t considered GOOD. They may have high hopes and
expectations for you, but you’re still considered a “development.” Well...I
wanted to stick with it. Even if I looked silly…I had this deep down, pure
passion for running really fast. And after a couple months, that 100 meter gap
shortened to 50 meters, and then to 40 meters. Then one day, I crossed the
finish line and was able to stand straight up, look around and say, “I’m not on
the ground anymore.”
Consistency and time improves an athlete. And trust. If you
want to start something like lifting weights or training and be good at it, and
reap all the rewards from mastering what you do, you better trust yourself and
your body because that’s what gets you to that point.
There is also a point when you identify your goal…you think,
ok, I want to be a beast at lifting weights in the gym, or, I want to be a fast sprinter…and you’re faced with not just one giant challenge (of getting
good at your goal and physically developing) but mentally developing as well. Being
fit, working out and being an athlete demands mental focus and
willpower…you have to have the ability to build trust.
Trust for your overall development, trust that your body will change, trust
that in being patient everyday and embarrassing yourself, you will grow and
become increasingly good at what you’re trying to master.
I realize that so many people talk about this, and the idea
may seem overrated and cliché, especially when coming from a tea bag…we all
know and hear about how “practice makes perfect” and “consistency is key to
seeing results.” I challenge you to dig deeper though, and actually apply this
to yourself. Starting something new is scary, stressful and embarrassing.
What’s even worse is not being strong enough to build your inner trust and keep
going. To me, the advantages of sticking with something and slowly changing
heavily surpass those of…and I’m about to say a VERY bad word…quitting.
Build your inner trust, and you will see change, peace, and
results. I’ve looked ridiculous along the way as I’m sure you feel you do…but I
got over it and changed. You may read this entire article, disregard my advice
and walk away thinking about what you’re going to make for lunch. And I am
absolutely ok with that…as long as you TRUST YOURSELF...AND ENJOY YOUR LUNCH.
Trust creates peace.
-Lil Miss Strong
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