My cycling (Spinning, but Reebok has the copyright on that name, so we have to call it cycling) instructor, Emily, is a wonderful motivator. She obviously spends a lot of time coming up with new "rides", themed song lists and throws out challenges throughout the class. Today she asked us to think of that one person who "always beats you, no matter how hard you work." The person who gets the raise you wanted, the person who accomplishes easily the goal you struggle with ... THAT person, you know who it is.
After we raced that person (and beat them ... this is a mind trip, after all ... you actually get to beat your nemesis on your own mind trip!), she challenged us to think of someone new. Someone you had fought with recently. We were to think of beating them next. I found this task more difficult. I don't usually want to beat, competitively, the people I argue with. I don't usually want to beat them physically, either, but that's a different type of challenge. But it did make me start thinking. Why is it motivating to compete with other people?
For some of us, I am sure competition makes no difference whatsoever. My husband, for example, feels no need to compete with anyone other than himself. He is so self disciplined, so self-assured that he doesn't need any outside influence to make him work his hardest. In this particular area, we are complete opposites. I LOVE competing. I HATE being non-competitive. Meaning, there are so many areas in my life that I truly wish I had the talent, physicality, ability in which to compete, but am held back for various reasons.
I would love to be a real runner. I love the idea of running ... I just hate how it makes me feel. And how it breaks down my body. I would love to get in a boxing ring and actually be good at it. I would love to do any number of physical things, but I have a body with continuous joint issues. Let's face it, I am nearly 42 and it isn't going to get better. Still, I need to have something or someone to compete with to keep me interested and involved.
I look around the cycling class and try to find someone to beat. My legs must pump harder than his, my sprints need to be faster than hers. I do it in Kettlebell as well, but after I time, I find myself going into my head and competing more with my own body in that particular sport. In cycling, I have no idea if that days competition is using more or less tension than I am, but still I feel victorious if I perceive it as a win.
It's all about perception isn't it? How we perceive ourselves, our wins, our failures, how other perceive us, and ultimately respond to us. Changing that perception to positive in as many ways as we can, results in a win. Right now I am trying to change my perception of my body. Sure, I am not as thin or fit as so and so ... but, by golly, I am stronger. I am not at my goal, but boy have I made serious strides in the face of horrible odds over the past year. Now I just need to convince my spirit that these are wins.
“The spirit, the will to win, and the will to excel are the things that endure. These qualities are so much more important than the events that occur.” ~Vince Lombardi~
Breakfast
4 egg whites on a whole wheat english muffin, 3 cups coffee, black
MM Snack
1/2 c. 1% cottage cheese, 1/2 c. mandarin oranges
Lunch
4-oz grilled chicken doused in buffalo sauce on lettuce with tomato, quartered, and cucumber slices
MA Snack
Protein powder mixed with water
Supper
4-oz grilled tuna with 1/4 c diced tomato, onion & garlic, 1/2 c. green beans, 8 steamed brussel sprouts
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