What Strength Looks Like

For me, mirrors are often unwelcome spotlights; they highlight the awkward angles and rigid movements of my muscles, acting as a painful reminder that I cannot outwork Cerebral Palsy. Most days I can make peace that, and other days it knocks the wind out of me.

I was recently listening to a podcast with author James Clear about his newest book Atomic Habits. One of the prominent ideas in this book is that we should strive to build habits out of the qualities we want to develop rather than the things we want to achieve. Overtime, these habits will only grow stronger because they are based upon values instead of results. After listening to this podcast, I started to think about the qualities of a strong person, and thinking about these qualities has slowly helped me to construct an image of strength that has nothing to do with physicality. I think that overtime, this image will be what I see in the mirror instead of a collection of qualities outside of my control. That being said, here is the start of my list. 

A strong person is...

1. Consistent: Show up for myself and others. Stay in the arena.

2. Bold: Attack the things I think I cannot do until I do them, even if it's in a modified way. 

3. Patient: Remind myself of how far I have come in powerlifting, and keep going.  

The person I am right now is:

1. Consistent: I credit my success with this one to everybody in my corner at F3, you know who you are

2. Bold: My stubbornness says "I will do this" and my self-doubt says, "you sure?"  

3. Patient: .......