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You Don't Have to Be The Best


I'm a recovering competitor and perfectionist...two things that don't always go well together. 

I've always been an athlete and was above average in most sports growing up. However, because I'm so competitive, all I could see was everyone who was better than me. And because I was a perfectionist, I aligned that with never thinking I was good enough. In my mind, if I wasn't the best, I clearly wasn't a good player. At that time, I didn't realize that was my thinking pattern...I just never really saw my talent. But looking back now, I see how it all connected. 

My dad was a constant encouragement to me and would tell me all the time what a great player I was (while also being honest about where I could improve), but it never made a difference. I simply didn't believe I was as good as he (or the stats) said. And because of it, I gave up on my favorite sport when I was 15 and later wished I could go back and make a different decision.

Perhaps you are a little bit that way as well...especially when it comes to wellness. You see the slim people in magazines and think that you would never be able to look that way, so why try? (As I say all the time, what's on the outside doesn't always reflect the health level on the inside...) Or you see people your age running marathons and you feel bad about your two mile walk and just want to give up. 

Here's the truth in life...you will never be the best at ANYTHING. There will always be someone better than you. You don't have to BE the best to succeed in life and reach your goals, but you owe it to yourself to always DO your best.

Let the people who are "better" than you inspire you, but don't let it defeat you. Determine what your dreams and goals are and work toward them -- independent of others dreams and successes. You are capable of great things!

I'm thankful that God has worked in my life and my perfectionist ways -- that I am able to show myself grace and see the amazing ways that He has made me and all the gifts He has given me. I don't want to be the best anymore -- because then I have no where to grow.




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