When someone tells you that you can't!

Mia has a series of Peppa Pig books that are about members of her family, My Mummy, My Grandpa etc.  My favourite page in the My Mummy book is where Peppa says “My mummy can do anything she puts her mind to, especially when someone tells her she can’t” damn straight you cute little Peppa Pig!  It seems Mia and Peppa have something in common (aside from their love of George!) they both have determined mummies who CAN do anything!  So you could only imagine my reaction recently when finding out that a colleague had told another colleague that there was no possible way I could win my competition in September.  Not, “it will be difficult for her to win”, or “she will have some strong competition”, but rather “there is no possible way that she can win”.  This then sparked a healthy debate that somehow led to a bet between colleagues around my ability to win or not to win (apparently there is now a whole betting syndicate that has started up!).  Little did this colleague know that by making this comment he has only spurred me on even further, given me the motivation to push that extra 10% each day.  I can guarantee that come September I will be taking to the stage the best possible body that I can, I will be working my butt off (literally) over the next 6 months to ensure that I give myself the best possible chance at winning.  But I’m not doing any of this for anyone else, I’m not trying to prove anything to anyone other than myself.  For this comp is all for me, whether I win against other competitors on the day or not I will always be a winner against myself if I know that I have given it my all.  When I used to compete in triathlon I always knew that if I crossed that finish line with nothing left in the tank then I couldn’t have done any better. This is a completely different world as it’s not about how fast I can go or my endurance, rather I am going to be up on stage in a bikini and heels in front of a panel of judges and an audience (yikes!) and I will be judged on my physique up against other amazing girls.  But there are some similarities to my triathlon days, preparation is key, even more so, if I don’t give it my all during the next 6 months then it will show up on stage. I need to remain mentally strong, push myself in the training and be committed to the nutrition. And of course practice make perfect!  Just like focusing on swimming, cycling and running technique is extremely important I am going to have to practice posing like there is no tomorrow, for posing will certainly not be my strength.  But like in triathlon, I was able to turn swimming from a weakness into a strength, I am hoping the same can be said for posing. 

So I’m not angry or disappointed that someone has doubted my ability to win, in some way’s I am happy, it has sparked a new fire inside me, one that is going to push me to the max and if I do manage to win in September then perhaps I owe a big thanks to this colleague (perhaps!).