Ever looked through your old boxes of memories? It’s an activity, that once in a while, I truly enjoy.  Now, my parents sold their home back in 2007, so at that time, I had to take the time to keep only what was important and recycle the rest, as for a few years, much of my memories sat in storage. Of course, you could say, what’s the use, you can’t change the past, right? I have to admit that I do enjoy peeking back in time to see the person I was and the person I have become.

For two summers while I was studying Kinesiology at McMaster University, I had the chance to work at Sports Fitness School – an amazing day school program for kids during the summer. It is a combination of many different sports and fitness activities for kids from 6 – 14 years of age. The program still operates today.  While I was peeking though my box of treasures today, I found this:

It’s a compilation of the quotes of the day that I shared everyday for the entire program. I created a little board and arrived early each morning to share a quote of the day.  I was trying to be anonymous but I’m sure many people knew that it was me.  Ok – so here is the personal part of the story. When I worked at SFS (short for Sport Fitness School), I was still dealing with a chronic knee injury and couldn’t run.  Part of the program involved running different trails with the kids a few times a session.  Since I couldn’t run (that’s what I believed at that time, of course I did an Ironman many years later) I wasn’t able to sign up for course and I would end up supervising the kids that ran around the track. I was very much embarrassed about this and a few of the people I worked with openly made fun of me because of this. The real reason I shared a thought of the day? I was trying to make myself feel better and be accepted.  I was trying REALLY hard.  I’m sure if anyone who worked with me that summer read this post, they would be nodding their heads. The thing is, I didn’t have to try so hard. And if I didn’t make a big deal about not being able to run – no one else would have either.

What we often don’t realize is that everyone has their own insecurities and challenges – and if we just focus on being the best person we can be and giving 100% everyday, then that’s ok!! That’s our best and no one can ask for more. I spent a lot of time worrying about what others were thinking (occasionally I still do) and chances are – they weren’t even thinking about me.  In fact, it’s very egotistical to believe that others are spending their time thinking about you.  I promise you that they aren’t!! Likely they are worried about what you think of them.

I hope you enjoy these quotes – they got me through a challenging summer in my life for sure!! I will be sharing them on Facebook too. What strategies do you use to get through difficult times?