On Why I Love Even Those Who Are Haters And Why I Do It For The Doubters!

On Why I love Even Those Who Are Haters and Why I Do It For The Doubters!

BEAST Mode Day 366.

Have I warned you guys yet that every conversation I have is a potential blog topic? I swear I don’t do it on purpose. There are times that I have these incredible conversations with myself and then I think, ‘Wait, should I write about this?’ Then, there are other times when friends suggest that I write one…this, my friends, is one of those times!

Last week I came across a friend’s Facebook status update that asked the following questions: 

“working on a final class project...help me out...let me know:

what is community to you?

how has community defined your development?

thank you!”

About an hour later, I asked if she was still looking for answers. Because she said she was, and because my answer was not the typical answer college professors want to hear, I decided to respond to her through private messenger.

The following is my response:

So after I decide that I would write about it, I begin taking a mental inventory of everyone in my community. I instantly begin to think of all of the individuals who have not only doubted WHY I am on this journey or HOW I have been able to be successful, but I have (and this is more important) also noticed how many more allies I have!

A lot of my blog has been dedicated to thanking those who have been so helpful and supportive. For the sake of shaking things up a bit, let's talk about those who don't quite buy into the idea of the success of this journey.

I get it. It's hard to believe that someone like me--a food addict who at one point in my life viewed the gym as my enemy--would completely change my lifestyle to make physical fitness and proper nutrition a PRIORITY in my life. Heck, if you want me to be completely honest, I still have a hard time believing it myself. 366 days later, it's still a mystery to me how I stay away from milkshakes and fries and pizza and cotton candy and...and...and...

It took me quite a while to believe that change was possible for me, so why should I expect anyone else to believe in me? I guess that in a way that was the catalyst behind making my journey so public; I had to make sure that I was accountable to something and someone other than myself. In other words, the more people who knew about my journey, the more people would be able to call me out if they ever saw me with melted chocolate on my fingers--holding the smoking gun, for example. There were plenty of eyes and doubters waiting to see me fail. These people were all a part of my community.

The doubters. There weren't many, but they were there. They are there. They are the ones who fuel my success. I am sure that at some point in their life and in their various journeys someone has told them that they will not be successful. This is fact. And because of this I feel that a heavy weight is placed on my shoulders to perform my best, so that I can show that just because someone tells you that you can't do it, it doesn't mean that you have to listen! 

This bears repeating: JUST BECAUSE SOMEONE TELLS YOU THAT YOU CAN'T DO IT, IT DOESN'T MEAN THAT YOU HAVE TO LISTEN!

This person will undoubtedly be a part of your "community"--by choice or by circumstance. So when it's your turn and when it's your journey, don't succeed despite the haters and the doubters, succeed FOR the haters and the doubters. You will be helping them more than you know it. Everyone loves a good old-fashioned success story, right?

I'm curious, what's YOUR definition of community?