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By: Jen Croneberger, President - JLynne Consulting Group Provided by: National Fastpitch Coaches Association Truly, it is amazing how many times I have started over. How many times life took me in different directions. I had to learn how to rewrite my story on more than one occasion and to recognize that it didn't need to be written for me. If you are in a place that is new, or starting over, or taking on something that feels like a huge task, give yourself a moment to decide what it is that you want it to look like. And rewrite the story to be what you want it to be. And it was in the moment I realized the simple truth that I had that power, that I achieved some of my greatest goals. In my lifetime, I am realizing that there are hard, nasty moments. Ones that often bring me to my knees before I am able to recognize the power of the cold, hard tile floor beneath my skin. And often, in that same space, there are some of the most beautiful moments I may have ever known. In the midst of chaos is calm. In the eye of the hurricane is quiet. In the clear night sky, the moon still shines with all its brilliance. And we as humans don't question it, it just does. With no coaxing or prodding. In all its phases, it shows up. Even when it is barely a sliver, I can search the starry sky and find it. I recognize in those moon phases, that change is inevitable. I can be witness to it, ignore it, or be angry at the moon for not being full every day of the month. That is my choice. And so what if we are like that moon? In many different phases and shapes of our existence … what if the simple answer to all we wrap our doubts around is to just change the language? Rewriting the story, we own the pen. We just have to be strong enough and smart enough and brave enough to pick it up. The journey from "I can't" to "I did" is one of strength and perseverance. It's one of change and of embracing the process. It's one of understanding true strength. It's one of self-confidence that appears where it didn't exist before. And it begins by doing something you are so afraid of doing that you stand in the midst of that fear and feel your body tremble, unaware of your sheer power and strength for just doing so. Every time my foot hit the pavement of that first 5k I ran, I was in the midst of one of the greatest inner battles I have ever experienced. The want and need to stop running, and the hunger to watch my feet cross the finish line. I was in turmoil. My body said, "What the heck are you doing you idiot, make it stop!" And my heart said, "If you stop, you will not feel the accomplishment of finishing what you set out to do." That day my heart won. But that hasn't always been the case. So often I find that there are things I desire and want and don't get because I am afraid to fail. Or, worse yet, I am afraid of what success means for me from that point on. Or, I don't know why or how I got there in the first place. This fear paralyzes me. And I shrivel into a ball of self-doubt, riddled by the not knowing. And I utter the words "I can't" and let them slip out of my mouth like they bear no weight. Like they don't matter in the end. They are possibly the two most debilitating words I own. And like a bad drug that slips me into a negative place, I do it again because it becomes habit. Using the words "I can't" becomes a habit. One which we can break easily once we know the path to doing so. The power comes in the moments that we can stand in the midst of the "I can't dark cloud" we put ourselves in and recognize we are there. It comes when we understand the magnitude of what we can do to change that. And it comes when we own that power like it's our last gasp of air, not relinquishing it for anyone and anything. Maybe it isn't in the not trying. Maybe it's the not knowing we can try that needs to be explored. And so we begin. Dig in. You are here in this moment. You are in the room and at the table and you deserve a seat. You have a voice. You own your story. You own the pen. How do you want it to end? |
Rewriting the Story Begins Today
