Harmonica: “toot toot toot toot”....~ Me: "me, me, me, me! "
This is a story about me. An abbreviated story. A 4-6 minute story.
Wow. How do you sum yourself up in 4-6 minutes? Perhaps I should have opened a twitter account to figure out how to truncate 45 years into 600-900 words.
Instead, I took the time to really figure out what I should hone in on as “me”.
I decided I would begin with the objective descriptions of me (not to be confused with objectionable things about me, which would take well over a day). I was born on June 26th, 1965 (making me, for those of you with math difficulties, 45 years old).
This is a story about me. An abbreviated story. A 4-6 minute story.
Wow. How do you sum yourself up in 4-6 minutes? Perhaps I should have opened a twitter account to figure out how to truncate 45 years into 600-900 words.
Instead, I took the time to really figure out what I should hone in on as “me”.
I decided I would begin with the objective descriptions of me (not to be confused with objectionable things about me, which would take well over a day). I was born on June 26th, 1965 (making me, for those of you with math difficulties, 45 years old).
I lived internationally with my parents because my dad worked for DOD.
I grew to the ripe old height of 5'2” (not eyes of blue, but brown). I have weighed anywhere from 121 to 172 at my current height. This suggests that I have struggled with weight problems all of my life.
I did actually weigh 192.5 when I gave birth to my two boys, but that doesn't count. It does give you one more hint about me. I am the mother of two boys and am happily married.
I know that these facts are boring and will only take up 20 seconds of this speech, so I venture on with the real subject of this speech....me.
Narcissistic? Probably. Neurotic? No. Necessary? Yes.
After much preponderance and reflection, I came to the conclusion that the “me” I should talk about today is: Laura the “Athletic Woman”.
This is not to be confused with the bionic woman, wonder woman or woman of the year.
Plain and simple. “Athletic Woman”
This label has come up repeatedly in my life of late and I felt this was a perfect time to address this slice of life, para me.
The term, athletic woman, is one that still makes me shutter, chuckle, cringe, and perplex all in one fell swoop. I guess that word would be "shuckinglex".
The reason this is such a strange label for me is because I began life with a very different label.
In elementary school I was the last one picked on the kickball team.
During summers, I hated being on the swim team . The swim coach always shouted at me to go faster....I called him “fuzzy hair head”~it was not a compliment.
Then there was the awful physical education in middle school. That was was where my mom yanked me out of P.E. because the teacher did not give two hoots about the enlarged spleen I had from mono.
Ah.... and then....High School. Every non athletic female's dream. (Sarcasm inserted here). I just LOVED changing in the dressing room. The rolls of “fat” chuckled and buckled around aimlessly. I was the designated “fat cheerleader” at our school. I am sure that the PE teacher found me something of an enigma. This is why I WILL NOT go back to High School reunions “fat”.
So....you can imagine that the label of ”'athletic woman” still comes as a surprise to me.
But, here I am. 5' 2”, 143 pounds, 27% body fat.
I can bench press 120 pounds. I can curl 55 pounds. I can squat 205 pounds. I can deadlift 242 pounds.
Wow.
These stats may be impressive to some, but to me, they are just part of who I am now.
I am strong.
I am a power-lifter. A power-lifter is an athlete who attempts to bench press, squat and dead lift as much weight as possible in a one rep max (1 repetition).
I was recently in a classroom where the teacher talked about everyone's pre-judgement. We all judge, whether we mean to or not.
To prove her point, she held flash cards up with several human descriptions. For example: business man, housewife, and parent. Then, two words flashed up: Athletic Woman.
I am thinking that some people in that room may have even thought of me when they saw that card. Did someone actually utter my name when they described that word? (okay, maybe this is narcissistic)
I've come a long way baby and don't plan to stop anytime soon.
I would like to inspire women everywhere to attempt feats that they consider beyond their ability.
I know that these facts are boring and will only take up 20 seconds of this speech, so I venture on with the real subject of this speech....me.
Narcissistic? Probably. Neurotic? No. Necessary? Yes.
After much preponderance and reflection, I came to the conclusion that the “me” I should talk about today is: Laura the “Athletic Woman”.
This is not to be confused with the bionic woman, wonder woman or woman of the year.
Plain and simple. “Athletic Woman”
This label has come up repeatedly in my life of late and I felt this was a perfect time to address this slice of life, para me.
The term, athletic woman, is one that still makes me shutter, chuckle, cringe, and perplex all in one fell swoop. I guess that word would be "shuckinglex".
The reason this is such a strange label for me is because I began life with a very different label.
In elementary school I was the last one picked on the kickball team.
During summers, I hated being on the swim team . The swim coach always shouted at me to go faster....I called him “fuzzy hair head”~it was not a compliment.
Then there was the awful physical education in middle school. That was was where my mom yanked me out of P.E. because the teacher did not give two hoots about the enlarged spleen I had from mono.
Ah.... and then....High School. Every non athletic female's dream. (Sarcasm inserted here). I just LOVED changing in the dressing room. The rolls of “fat” chuckled and buckled around aimlessly. I was the designated “fat cheerleader” at our school. I am sure that the PE teacher found me something of an enigma. This is why I WILL NOT go back to High School reunions “fat”.
So....you can imagine that the label of ”'athletic woman” still comes as a surprise to me.
But, here I am. 5' 2”, 143 pounds, 27% body fat.
I can bench press 120 pounds. I can curl 55 pounds. I can squat 205 pounds. I can deadlift 242 pounds.
Wow.
These stats may be impressive to some, but to me, they are just part of who I am now.
I am strong.
I am a power-lifter. A power-lifter is an athlete who attempts to bench press, squat and dead lift as much weight as possible in a one rep max (1 repetition).
I was recently in a classroom where the teacher talked about everyone's pre-judgement. We all judge, whether we mean to or not.
To prove her point, she held flash cards up with several human descriptions. For example: business man, housewife, and parent. Then, two words flashed up: Athletic Woman.
I am thinking that some people in that room may have even thought of me when they saw that card. Did someone actually utter my name when they described that word? (okay, maybe this is narcissistic)
I've come a long way baby and don't plan to stop anytime soon.
I would like to inspire women everywhere to attempt feats that they consider beyond their ability.
I have seen where I came from and what I can do now and completely believe that ANYONE can become an athletic woman (except a man~and even that is doable now).
Ha! The last one picked on the kickball team could now kick sand in any beach goers face.
I am a late bloomer and proud of it.
It's now time to turn it over to you, you, you, you Mr. Toastmaster
Ha! The last one picked on the kickball team could now kick sand in any beach goers face.
I am a late bloomer and proud of it.
It's now time to turn it over to you, you, you, you Mr. Toastmaster
