Going Pro.

“Nobody wants to show you the hours and hours of becoming.

They’d rather show you the highlight of what they’ve become.” – Angela Duckworth, Author of GRIT

The internet is a funny thing; social media so easily allows us to share our lives under filters and misunderstood hashtags. Unfortunately, it has also created a platform that beats any form of high school gossip and allows news to travel and judgements to fly faster than you could ever write a note and pass it to a friend in between classes.

The proud and confident folks online seem to boast the ‘ttude of #ZFG – thank goodness! And then there are others that want to show you a piece of their heart yet fear the judgement. Because 140 characters used to be the lines at cocktail parties until instagram stories took over — and your selfie became a video, sprayed across the world wide web. And all of this to be said — the good and the not so good — unequivocally the internet has indeed create a platform for news to be shared. #duh

It has created a safe place for this post from inner voice to go live. (I’d really appreciate it if you’d click that link cause I’m battling out head to head with the triathlon legend Jesse Thomas right now! Seriously. Please. Click it!) What you may not know about that post is that it was written the week leading up to Ironman Canada — and despite still feeling like a sausage in my tri suit, I had a deeper desire that went beyond the size of my quads — I was going to start that race to win that race. And that is indeed what happened. I share this because July 25th taught me a very sweet lesson in the fine line of falling hostage to self-doubt or flirting with self-belief.

Every day since then, I dance the same fine line — it comes up in business, in relationships, in sport — having radical courage to tell the truth, to apologize first, to stay relentlessly focused, to show up on purpose, 100% of the time. While self-doubt holds me back because the what if’s are big and usually come with a high price tag measured in a kick to the confidence, the self-belief alwaysalwaysalways says…GO FOR IT! Make the call! Jump in first! You’ll figure it out!

So with my dancing shoes on, flirting with possibility, I am so stoked to share that my pro card has arrived and 2017 will be the year that I have the sweet opportunity to race triathlon with the big girls — the speedy girls — with a P on our calves.

And I’m sharing this now — in the hours of becoming, when I still struggle with inner voices (#click!) that say women in our 30’s should be doing other things (note: we’ve got time for that!), that entrepreneurs needs to focus (btw: I’ll show you focus!) or that let’s be honest, I’m the underdog who is still a lil husky! I’m sharing this because I’m so grateful to have a new radical line up of sponsors that have said “we want to support you for being you!” – Thank you! Because I am the girl who once ran a 4:30 marathon and who has never been to the olympics for steeple chase, btw. I’m sharing this because I am the most perfect example of a very ordinary human who has relentlessly flirted with getting better…and every darn day has been so worth it.

As we get ready to cross the finish line of 2016, I hope you too will flirt with what could be possible…as an underdog or the top dog….just be the best dog!

Here’s to the hours and hours still remaining to become what once, not that long ago, was indeed but a wild, crazy dream!

<original post here>