My New Hero

OK, I just have to say that Venus Williams is my new hero. I am no tennis aficionado, believe me (although I did buy a raquet the other day), and I have only paid a little above minimal attention to the Williams sisters. However, Venus' recent Wimbledon win caught my attention big time. For her to come from 23rd (or something like that) to win Wimbledon, setting a record for the lowest-seeded female to win Wimbledon... now THAT is next level badass. To serve 124 mph serve at match point?! WHOA!! And the crazy thing is, she believed she could do it the whole time, regardless of her ranking. She says she never doubted herself. Apparently her parents basically instilled in her (and her sister I assume) from an early age that she could win Wimbledon, and she has never doubted it. I just think that the power of a positive self-image is amazing. Not that cuz you think it it happens, like my church background teaches. But because when you believe you can't be beat, you don't let anything beat you. It may knock you down, but it won't keep you down.

I was reading a John Berardi article about what it takes to be a champion, and he says that research has found that people who overcome obstacles all have a positive self-image in common. I believe it. How many things have we not even attempted because we believed we would fail? How often does fear of failure stop us from even leaving the bench? I know before I joined Weight Watchers and started to lose weight I would hear people talking about losing weight, even small amounts, and say to myself 'I can't do that'. I don't know why I thought I couldn't. Obviously I know now that I can. And ironically, losing weight helped me get myself together to apply to grad school and just generally have a better self-image. Not because I'm smaller (although that does help), but because I now have under my belt a brand new accomplishment. I realized that I have it in me to discipline myself, get up & work out, follow an exercise & diet regimen, and do all the other stuff that has been required for me to lose almost 40 pounds. And you know what? I'm proud of myself, dammit! And we should all be proud of ourselves, whether we've lost 4 or 40 pounds, or pushed through to the other side of other difficulties. YAY US!!