The definition of the word Resilient is, "(of a person or animal) able to withstand or recover quickly from difficult conditions."
The gym that I attend and occasionally coach at hosted a women's event recently that was meant to empower women and help them embrace the bad ass within each of us. It was a humbling event, in all honesty. I was surrounded by women that I usually see on a regular basis but today, we weren't there to work out. We were there to learn about ourselves and grow into more confident people. There were three speakers- Tanya, Krista, and Anastasia.
Tanya helped us to define a woman. Strong, resilient, caring, planners, dedicated, educated, mad hatter, flexible- these were just some of the words that were given to describe what and who each woman is. Overachiever might have been mentioned too but...it fits 😋
Krista is one of my favorite people to listen to. She is such a loving and caring person and she's 100% invested in every person she talks to. She taught us today that it's okay to say no and to take time for yourself; in fact, it's essential to take time for yourself to set your mind. One thing that she said she does and she wanted to help us do the same was she will pause and say to herself, "I'm worthy." I want to take that tool that she uses for herself, although I will tweak and tailor it for myself, I'm resilient.
The guest speaker was one of my favorite parts of the day. She was funny and honest. She reminded us it's important to set boundaries, and enforce them. It's okay for us to take time for ourselves. We need to realistically deal with stress levels, find the threshold, and prepare to flourish. We are in the dark right now, but soon the light will shine and we will flourish.
At the end of the day, each woman walked down the gauntlet, if you will. Powerful women, who stood on either side as each woman walked down, whispered words in her ears. I was crying before it was even my turn. I didn't want to walk down the line. I didn't want to be put on the spot. I didn't know some of these women or I had just met them that day. I didn't know what they were like; how could I be expected to say something nice about them? I'm so glad that I participated though.
Beautiful, honest, deserving of all the nice things said to me, help people to be themselves, empowering, inspiring, strong...these were just some of the words that were said in my ear. These are the ones that stuck with me. The one that has resonated with me the most is I help people to be themselves. I don't know if that's true but I like to think it is.
I think the point of this post is that I'm feeling very empowered from this event. Which is great because I've not been feeling very empowered as of late. Work hasn't been great and I haven't been doing the things I enjoy, like coaching swimmers or running or anything that helps me relax. So going to this event and participating in the walk restored some of what I'm missing. It helped me to remember that I am enough, I am worthy and I am resilient.
