We're on a Roll!

No matter where you are on your life journey, there will always be someone looking at you, watching and, possibly, judging your actions.  How are you reacting in any given situation?  Whether you want to be or not, you ARE a role model to someone.

You must decide what sort of model you want to be.  Do you want to be the person people see and think “Wow!  I want to be like that person! Or are you the one people see coming and think, “Oh wow, I hope I’m not like THAT person.”

For many years, I was the latter.  The only thing I inspired people to do was to avoid me.  Not only did I NOT like myself but I was a victim of my own making.  I sat wondering why I couldn’t be like my role models who seemed to accomplish so much more that I seemed to be able to do.  As much as I’d like to say I woke up and made a drastic change, I can’t.  It happened gradually, over time.  As I made small changes yet, for me, profound changes, I saw attitudes all around me begin to change.

Here are just a couple of the changes I made:

 1)     My vulnerability opened others to see the real me.  No one wants to be around someone who has it “all together.”  Perfection is not a likeable trait because it makes us (who are not perfect) see our own imperfections.  We tend to relate to people who understand our weaknesses and SHARE our sufferings.  We want to hear from someone who has been where we are and knows how we feel.

2)     Knowledge does not equal wisdom.  I can know every technical muscle term but if no one understands what I’m saying, it’s nothing but gibberish.  There are thousands of diet plans on the market with most being replicas of the one before.  People don’t need more knowledge; we KNOW what to do.  What we DO want is for someone to make it practical to our daily lives.  We all want to know how those everyday, average people we know who succeeded did it so that WE can do it as well.

3)     It’s not about the destination, it’s about the journey.  This is not a sprint to see who can get to the finish line first.  It’s a cross-country race, an endurance event, and the even the last person across the finish line wins.   I heard a quote a couple of weeks ago that I fell in love with: “I may be the last turtle across the finish line, but I’m gonna look good in my shell.”  There is so much to learn about yourself – persistence, patience, stubbornness, emotional outlets, healthier habits, new friends, teamwork, supportive issues, competitiveness, and so many others.  You will learn to be proud of your accomplishments and to see accomplishments in EVERY day.  You will learn new reward systems and how to reach out when you need help.

Pay it forward…it’s something we often hear but don’t really put into practice.  What we don’t often realize is that we are ALWAYS paying it forward, however, it may not be the way we WANT to.  Let’s stop making others watching us wonder what happened to make us so judgmental of  ourselves, so hard on other and so embittered and start making them stop and wonder at what makes us so happy.  What is it about us and our lives that they just can’t seem to get enough.  And when they ask, you can tell them about the changes your healthy habits have made in your life, and that of your family and children.  You can be that role model that you desire to be.