STAYING MOTIVATED when life gives you lemons……

Motivation can be hard to come by at times and believe me, life can sometimes just be a total !@#$%. I get it, I really do and not only have I experienced this lack of motivation, I have experienced a lot of sadness and anxiety when it comes to the sport I love…

In my 17 year career, there have been so many injuries, set backs and situations that lead me to question my abilities, my goals, and my passion for this amazing sport. I spent many days asking myself why I have put my body through so many ups and downs to prove my worth.

By persevering even when everything felt like it was all being taken away from me and even when I thought that each event would mark the end of my career, I felt more empowered. In all honestly, my road to (someday) competing at the Olympic Games has been a rollercoaster of emotions….. moments of sadness and disappointment, but so so so many more moments of incredible joy and pride. Knowing all of the things I have had to go through to get me to this very moment in my life (and my career) makes me feel proud that I have made it this far and that I have become the woman I am today!

People always look at the negative things… it’s just in our blood so to speak…. but what happens when you look at the good in your life? For example, you have a great boyfriend or girlfriend, people that love you, experts that can help you, people that want you to succeed…. You are alive. And though that sounds so cliche, it is something I thank the universe for everyday. I am alive and I am able to work toward my dream.

It’s not easy to be positive, even harder to stay positive, but being able to find your own inner happiness and perspective (and this can relate to anything; school, work, life, etc.) about why you work so hard, why you train every day, why you put your body through so much, and for me, why I want to go to the Olympics….

LIFE will throw you for a loop if you let it and when that happens, be prepared, stay calm and think “What can I learn from this? How can I come out of this a better person? A better athlete?” I’m not that person that says (in an old granny voice) “Stay positive, everything happens for a reason!” BUT I am a person that believes that you are in control of how this ends. You are in control of how you handle this situation and you are capable of coming out stronger. Yeah, it sucks, but seriously…. Life would be REALLY boring if everything went as planned!!

Learn from the lemons, make some lemonade and see what happens!

xoxo

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This post was inspired by one of your questions! If you have thoughts to share or questions you want to ask, I’ll leave the message box below 🙂