When I was little my sister was in a pageant. I saw all the pretty dresses and watched the girls dance on stage and just knew that I would do the same. I watched my sister at the end of the week stand up on stage and receive award after award and dreamed about which awards I would win.
I never ended up doing a pageant but I'm pretty sure if I had, I would have won "Miss Competitive". I would have been unplugging girls' curling irons when they weren't looking, throwing away their make up, and breaking the heals off of their shoes. Okay, maybe I wouldn't take it THAT far..but I like to win.
The past 2 mornings I've done fitness boxing at my gym. Its taught by some super hard core professional boxer, and he apparently thinks I want to be in fighting shape. We start with cardio and punching bags and then move on to more torturous things. 10 minutes of nonstop abs followed by 5 minutes of tire flipping (only instead of a tire I flip a 130 pound dummy I named Kevin). After that we'll lift and hold punching bags over our heads and then lower them "while controlling yourself". Yeah right. A 100 pound bag is falling on my head, I'll move however fast is necessary to avoid a concussion.
At the end of today's workout the teacher told me, "Your effort is awesome. Stick with me for a month and I'll have you doing pull ups like their nothin." Whoever said I want to be able to do pull ups?! Even as I write I feel pain in my legs, back, shoulders, forearms, and wrists.
But, despite my body's objections I LOVE these workouts! I love walking away and feeling like I accomplished a whole list of things I never thought I could do. Yesterday the instructor kept giving me "special girl instructions" and I was determined to show him that I could work just as hard as the guys. This morning he didn't try to tell me to do anything differently than the men. TAKE THAT! Don't try to tell me I can't do something, I'll prove you wrong (even if it kills me, literally).
So here's a shout out to a Dad that wouldn't let me quit, a mom who gave me my sassy streak, a sister to look up to, and a brother who taught me to not only to throw a punch - but how to defend myself from one as well.
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