We're All Golden

This week’s blog comes to you a little late—albeit, still within my goal of one-per-week. The reason I’m tardy (because there’s always an excuse, yes?) is because it was Homecoming Week at the big M. This has been one of the most fun weeks yet, but it has wreaked a bit of havoc on my workout routine. At the end of the day, I still fit in two sweat sessions and feel good about the quality time I’ve shared with the loves of my life (my cheerleaders and students). Plus, I’ve come up with a wealth of stories for this week’s blog, dear readers. For time’s sake, I’ll only share one for now.

The best story/lesson of this week comes from our Spirit Week dress up days. My fellow coaching friends and I decided to dress up for “T.V. Show Day," mimicking the precious and sassy Golden Girls. As we decided this was the perfect show for us—striking Saved by the Bell and The Bachelor in the process—we began talking about who would represent which character. Without thinking or much debate, I asserted that I just had to be Blanche. Of course, I chose her for her tenacious nature and Southern swagger. She's OBVIOUSLY the most like me. What I didn’t foresee was everyone asking, “Wait, wasn’t she the hussy?” HUSSY? Who are they calling a hussy? I remember thinking of her as flirtatious. (Well, maybe my first grade teacher had a point when she told my parents I was boy crazy--the witch). Then, out of sheer curiosity, I went back through an episode on YouTube entitled “Best of Blanche” and quickly realized, indeed, she was the hussy. But she was also a few other things—which I think outweigh her hussy-ness. It’s these things that I like best about her, and it’s these thing with which I closely identify: she is confident, she is pretty, and she says what’s on her mind. As I watched the Best of Blanche, I was thinking about how easy it is for people to note the negative:

Blanche…the hussy? VS. Oh, yeah, Blanche…the really confident, funny, charmingly Southern one.

I EVEN do it to myself. It goes like this:

Corrie…who needs to lose 60 pounds to be smokin’ hot VS. Corrie…who is an amazing teacher, very smart, occasionally pretty funny.

OR…

Corrie…who damns her big butt every time she tries on jeans VS. Corrie…who knows good and well that her God-given ASSets are fine tuned and (thank GODDDD) kinda perky in the right pair of jeans.

Instead of following this pessimistic pattern, I far prefer to be Blanche-esque and pronounce, “I’m Beauuuuuuuuutiful….Oh, I’m GOOOOOOORRRRRGeous….Isn’t it amazin’ how I can feel SOOOO baaaaad and looook sooooo Goooooood.” It’s comments like these that made me want to be Blanche.

Ultimately, what I learned from being Blanche-for-a-day is that everyone is gonna be a hater at some point; it’s human nature. So, with that in mind, we must be vigilant about picking the positive and focusing there. Not only that, but we must surround ourselves with people who ignore our negative and bring out our positive….people who will cheer, not sneer, when we say “I’m Goooooorgeous. Gorgeous. Gorgeous.”

And we should be prepared to do the same for others. Dear Blog Readers, you are my true Golden Girls (and Guys); you’ve already brought so much positive to my life. Maybe the Golden Girl’s said it best: “Thank you for being a friend…You’re heart is true; you’re a pal and a confidant.”