My Story - Part I

I wasn't always this fun-loving, fitness fanatic I am today.  It took a long time and a lot of soul-searching to get here but, alas, here I am.  Praise God that He led me here!  So, I would like to share my story with you....

When I was 24, seven years ago, I was working as a bank teller after working in public accounting for 6 months after graduation and decided that cubicle life was not for me.

I was also in a long-term relationship and had been for over 2 years.  I was determined to marry this boy.  We had a very tumultuous and toxic relationship.

You're probably wondering why I stayed.  I ask myself that so often.  Truth is, I was afraid of being alone. He had broken me and I didn't think that I could put the pieces back together to make it on my own.  My confidence was gone and I thought that no one else would possibly ever want me, so I begged him to marry me.  When he refused and told me that he was never getting married, I cried out to God, asking him what was so wrong with me.  I didn't understand why I wasn't good enough, but it turns out, he was the one who wasn't good enough, and God knew that all along.

So about Christmas time that year, I saw a photo of myself and I was horrified at how I looked.  See, I had been a very active child playing sports growing up.  I was even a cheerleader in college until I was 21, therefore I had never struggled with my weight because I was always on the go.

But, now.  Now, I had forgotten to take care of myself, either that, or I just didn't care.  I wasn't working out.  I was eating what ever he was eating, which was rarely, if ever, healthy.  Honestly, when I don't feel great about myself, I don't work out or take care of myself.  I didn't feel like I was worth it or deserved to feel good and happy, but luckily, I was working with a girl at the time in a bank.  She was on her own journey to getting fit and she helped get me motivated.

Because I was on the very tight budget of being a bank teller and couldn't afford a gym membership, I started working out at home with various DVDs.  Then, I got brave and decided I wanted to start running.  I began setting my alarm for 5:45 two mornings a week, so that I could run the 1.5 mile route around our house.

This soon became a habit of mine but the runs got longer and longer, until I decided to finally run a 5K.  That 5K nearly killed me.  I couldn't believe it had been that hard.  I thought I could just go out there and wing it.  Wrong.  But almost exactly 2 years later I ran a full marathon.  That's 26.2 miles for anyone out there who doesn't know.

But, before I even ran that 5K, I knew that there was something I must do first, and that was leave that nightmare that I had been living.  It was one of the hardest things I have ever done...but I did it with the help of a few friends and lot of courage.  After I had started feeling my heart really beat in my chest, I knew what it was to really live and I wasn't ready to let that slip away.  I realized that I was worth something.  I had a lot to offer to myself and ...possibly to others.

I was in school.  I was getting my masters degree to teach elementary school.  Soon, I would be certified to teach any grade from Kindergarten to sixth grade.  I was so excited and thought, what a great job that would be!  I would get to hang out with kids every day.  Lead their little hearts to live lives they could never have imagined before entering my classroom.  (Little did I know back then...but I digress.  More on that later.)

To be continued...