A winner never quits, and a quitter never wins.

Lessons learned The Hard Way

Photo By Johann Walter Bantz on Unsplash

This was engraved on a bracelet my dad gave me as a small child. I was competing in a national baton twirling competition and a wayward baton caught me in the eye and gave me quite a bruiser, my baton bounced from my face to the floor and off into the judge's table.

I ran towards it, eye swelling shut, my shellacked hair coming slightly unglued, but my determination never wavered. It’s true I had gotten a little cocky and instead of doing a double twirl, I decided to throw in a second triple when my baton decided to meet my eyeball.

When I realized that my face, not my hand was going to catch the baton, I remembered my bracelet and its encouragement.  Keep smiling I told myself and brace for impact.

This lesson has stayed with me my entire life and I’ve become an expert at bracing for impact, taking the hit and gracefully carrying on.

But something happened at the beginning of this year, even before I broke my ankle. I realized I was exhausted from taking so many hits and gracefully carrying on.  

I finally acknowledged my habit of giving way too much and getting very little in return, taking the hits and smiling anyway. So, I started to say no. I started to speak up, I stopped giving away large parts of my wisdom and my heart to people, especially for free.

Saying no, refusing to back down, protecting myself first, refusing to gracefully accept someone else’s punches because I didn’t believe in my own self-worth hasn’t come easily or gracefully to me.  Anything new takes time to find your footing in. (I guess I really did need to re-learn how to stand on my own two feet and up for myself)

But I am determined to start winning in a way that serves me without leaving scars on my soul. Which is bound to piss some people off. I’ve also learned those that get their panties in a bunch over me refusing to be bullied, refusing to be taken advantaged of and absolutely holding my ground for what is right… are probably the ones doing the most damage. It’s time someone stood up to them.

Check out my latest on Medium! Opps I Did It Again…