Besides being my tagline, awesome is something that you get to define. Everyday.
Some days, especially during this past year, awesome can be getting out of bed. Taking your dog for a walk. Doing a workout you didn’t want to do or stopping at one glass of wine. The list of small things goes on.
But are they small?
As instructors, there’s an expectation to be AWESOME every day, every class, every workout. Even Merriam-Webster’s definition of awe is intimidating: an emotion variously combining dread, veneration and wonder that is inspired by authority or by the sacred or sublime. I had to look up the definition of veneration. It means respect or awe, inspired by the dignity, wisdom, dedication or talent of a person. Awesome is something that inspires awe. Clearly, inspiring awe on any day, forget everyday, is a frighteningly tall order.
To add to the pressure, fitness messaging tells us to try harder, move faster, look sexier, be stronger and smile. And don’t forget to find the real you, live your ideal life, and to dance like no one’s watching and on and on and on. Sometimes “inspiration” feels like we’re being told we’re not enough and if we’re not constantly pushing ourselves we’ll be behind.
Behind what, though?
It’s your life. A hard earned one. You get to decide what enough is. You get to decide what will make you be in awe of you. Not Instagram stories, not Facebook posts or other instructors – just you.
At the beginning of everyday, I ask myself: What might awesome look like today? What will I do? How will I strive to feel so that at the end of the day I can smile to myself and think today was an awesome day; I did my best with what my body and mind had in store?
It’s not easy, I know. We think of awesome as grand, like stunning sunrises at Canada’s Moraine Lake and communal sunsets in Oia, Santorini. We conflate great with famous and outstanding with rare, but if something feels like an achievement to you it’s not too small to put in your awesome column. Count it!
Stay Awesome! is my tagline because I believe that you are already awesome. You are an instructor. Leading people to achieve physical, mental and social health is a powerful and special undertaking. Everything I offer or share is for you to take and add to your own awe of you. Giving what you have, doing what you can do is always enough. It’s human to doubt yourself, to wish you could have done something better, but the ability to move on, to be okay with your effort and then wake up and create another day, well, I think that’s awesome. So whether you climb a mountain, climb onto your saddle or just climb out of bed, it’s your day to be in awe of you.
Yep, Five Spokes, stay Awesome!