Perform Beautifully

So I just entered a "Perform Beautifully" contest to be an Oakley Ambassador. They had us answer all these questions and write about what performing beautifully meant to us, and they had us upload a video for people to vote on. I uploaded the video my mom took of me doing my first Half Ironman, but I realized they don't have what I wrote about performing beautifully anywhere on their facebook page.  And as much fun as I think my video is (ok, so it's not the best quality, but I am no Rocky Reyes when it comes to making vidoes, so it was the best I had) I wanted to share what I said about what it means to me to Perform Beautifully.

So here is what I wrote:

Performing Beautifully to me means trying as hard as you can and pushing yourself to do things you never thought possible. But it also means accepting yourself and loving yourself, and doing what you do because you love it, not because anyone else wants you to do it, or because you are trying to show other people what you can do. When I was in high school I was always pretty bad at sports. I got cut from the volley ball team, never made a point on the basketball team, and so I had to stick to swimming and cross country, where they let anyone on the team. I remember I used to love cross country practice because it was so fun to run around with the other girls, but I hated the races. It used to really bother me when I would come in last place. I felt embarrassed that I wasn’t good enough. So I gave up swimming and running for many years, and finally went back to it when my cousin and brother inspired me to join Team in Training. What I realize now is that it doesn’t matter what place I come in, and it doesn’t matter how long it takes me to accomplish a goal, what matters is that I do it, and I stick with it. Performing Beautifully to me, is realizing my true potential and being happy with that. Performing Beautifully means setting my own goals, and knowing that if I work hard enough for them, I can do almost anything I set my mind to, and Performing Beautifully to me also means inspiring others who thought they couldn’t do something and showing them that it is possible. 

If you want to see my video and vote for me go to: 

http://apps.facebook.com/performbeautifully/contests/99452/voteable_entries/19186781?ogn=facebook

And I want to thank my friend Scott for sending me the info about this contest. Whether or not I win a trip to Napa or get to be an Oakley Ambassador, I liked that it made me think about what this all means to me. It helped me take a look at what I am doing and really appreciate it. I may be exhausted by the end of every weekend, but the sweat, and tears, and cursing, and cuts and scrapes, are all worth it, and all make this experience even more memorable and beautiful!