Monday, May 10, 2010

The Cheerleader Attitude

I am dedicating this post to all cheerleaders and those that hated us.

I was recently speaking with a good friend of mine about confidence. And in trying to explain how I approached it, I realized it was something I learned in my years as a cheerleader.

I know I exude confidence. As much as I’d like to write this post about how I have that much. Well… I don’t. I second guess myself all the time. In my day to day interactions with people I’ll go home and wish I’d said something differently or better. I certainly am lacking in 100% confidence in my appearance or I wouldn’t have lost 14 pounds. And in my “life plan”, well, if I followed what I would have written for myself 10 years ago I’m not sure I’d be happy now, so how can I know if the plan I write for myself now will make me happy in 10 or 20 years. But, all that said- I am happy, I enjoy my life, I love my family and friends, I look good, my job is fantastic, and that is what I focus on.

So how does the “cheerleader attitude” come into play? A cheerleader’s job is to pay attention to the game, be positive no matter what is going on, to have a planned response for whatever just happened, to be willing to jump and yell in enthusiasm, and to encourage others to be positive… and do all of this while standing in front of a lot of people in a very short skirt. Yes, people are watching you. Yes, people are judging you. Yes, people make fun of you. But your focus has to be about what you are watching and doing. And about everyone else watching you and judging you, you just have to say “So what?”. That is how you are even able to stand out there, is to make sure you are doing your job and develop an indifference to the haters.

That’s what I do. I try to focus on the things I should- my family, my job, my passions, my friends. I try to keep the good things around and address the negative things. I plan for what I want. I am becoming more and more willing to show strong emotion, both laughter and tears. And I try to encourage the people around me. And I know people are watching- those that I care about are cheering ME on and those that are judging me.. so what? I’m still TRYING. And I’m doing pretty damn good. It’s all about the attitude...

...QueenB Says

4 comments:

  1. So, so true!!! And I can relate to just about everything you said - it is a mentality, you either have it or you don't. I cheered with you for many years, and the one thing you left out of this blog is the other thing you are amazing at - complementing other people!

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  2. Yeah short skirts!

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  3. 'have a planned response for whatever just happened'- do you know how much easier that would make my life? Teach me!

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