Who inspires you?

After having Luca, a friend of mine started running with me. My endurance was shot, but we trucked on. After every run, I’d question why I do it. I was tired, sore, breathing heavy, and it wasn’t very much fun.

But somewhere in the back of my mind, I thought to myself, I’d love to run a half marathon some day.

It seemed like a pipe dream, to be honest and I couldn’t even say it out loud.

Then, on one of our runs, we were coming around the bend by PNC Park and I said it.

Me: You know what? Eff it. I want to run a half marathon.
Nicole: You totally could!
Me: Now why was that so hard to say out loud?
Nicole: Because you just made a verbal commitment.

Silly me! I say something out loud and there we go, I can’t back down. I’m so stubborn that way.

Same thing happened when I thought about becoming a group fitness instructor. I was so afraid that if I said it to someone, that I’d be laughed at.

See, the gym started out as me trying to get back into shape. Then I got the postpartum depression and life changed. Going to the gym went from a want to a need. I needed that time. I needed that space from my kids to do something for myself.

Turns out, the kids needed space from me, too, to socialize with other kids and just be kids.

It turns out, when I went to the gym and worked out independently, I wasn’t working hard enough. I thought, at the time that I was, but I really wasn’t seeing results and more importantly, I wasn’t feeling that rush of endorphins that people rave about.

Then one day, I decided that I was going to try spinning.

For some reason or another, the instructor didn’t show up, and so desperate for someone to tell me what to do, I went upstairs into the yoga room where an ab class was taking place.

That, ladies and gents, was when I met Angelica, the Brazilian powerhouse.

She inspired me to do what I do in my fitness instructing.

Inspiration comes from within. It starts with the want to do something. Then comes the drive. Then comes the push.

I had the want, I had the drive, I just needed the push. She gave that to me.

Now, I’m all on my own, teaching and trying to motivate others.

What about running a marathon? Where did that come from? As I mentioned in the last post, it was because I was told I couldn’t. But it also came from saying “I want to run a half marathon.”

I did it. I ran that half marathon. And a few weeks after I ran that half marathon, I bit the bullet and registered, with my husband, for a full marathon.

Because, let’s face it, people, life’s too short to contemplate. You’re either going to do it, or you’re not. Plain and simple.

Working hard, making no excuses and just doing it, gets you results.

There is no easy way out.

As Oprah once said, “The big secret in life is that there is no secret. Whatever your goal, you can get there if you’re willing to work.” 

So, whether my stubbornness is a blessing or a curse, and it’s gotten me into a lot of predicaments, it’s also brought me to this point in my life where I can say with 100% certainty that I’m proud of who I am. Inside and out.

I never set out on this path trying to directly inspire people. I honestly just thought I was doing what I do, and people either read or they didn’t.

I raise my kids to say to me, “If I’m a good person, good things will happen to me.” Plain and simple.

But then I got this comment:

“I am a 54 year old woman, in SC, who started running inspired, in large part, by you.

So, when you are thinking of people each mile of your marathon, as suggested by Tracy, think of me for a few minutes, even though you don’t know me.

You inspired me to become a better, stronger person.

Thank you.”

And I sat there, with chills, in complete and utter awe. I still am.

I inspire people? Like, real people? People I’ve never met?

Amazing.

Simply amazing.

I never, in a million years, ever suspected that I would inspire someone else. And I’m not saying that as a way of fishing for compliments. I’m honest. I had no idea.

But, I guess in the same round about way, I doubt Angelica knows how much she’s inspired me.

So, to Angelica, my inspiration to be an instructor and to work harder and never settle, thank you. You, too, have inspired me to be a better, stronger person.