It literally stopped me in my tracks. Which was not easy to do since we were in the deep end of the pool. 
“Because you’re an athlete you are going to move through this process quickly.” Okay – let’s forget about the process she was talking about for the time being. But she called me an athlete. ME. Me? I’ve been overweight my entire life minus a couple of months here and there I was able to starve myself thin(ner). I’ve played sports, but that was in high school. And for the most part I wasn’t exactly…talented. I neeeeeeeever would have thought about myself as an athlete.
When she called me an athlete it shocked me. That’s never a word I’d use on myself. Like skinny. Or even outgoing. It stuck with me and I devoted some time to thinking about what it means to be an athlete.
ath·lete
ˈaTHˌlēt/
noun
a person who is proficient in sports and other forms of physical exercise.
Okay, well, calling myself proficient might be a stretch. But wait a sec – what does “proficient” really mean? Confident or skilled in doing something. All right all right. I may not be amazingly skilled, but I am getting more and more confident. I’ve run three separate 5k’s now. (That’s a totally different post in itself honestly because, well, I’m no runner.) I’ve also participated in a Tactical Strength Challenge and am going to be signing up for my first sprint-triathlon in January. And that’s only what I’ve done so far. I have loads of things on my mind that I want to train for.
I find myself excited to go get physical. I design my life around workouts and physical activities. I am not afraid of moving anymore. The challenge is exciting now, rather than frightening like it was a year and 40lbs ago. I’m working on getting better, and faster, and stronger. Progress and improvement are now goals equal in importance to losing those stubborn pounds. Losing those stubborn pounds is now a side effect of my life rather than the primary driver of it. I enjoy it.
So, yeah, I guess I am an athlete. Thanks coach 🙂