One of the cheerleaders on my team posted this (or, rather, a picture of something saying this) to twitter today, and I think it pretty much summed up cheerleading for me. The quote is:
You know, sometimes to get over mental blocks you just need to throw it.
Hell, there may be a 90% chance you eat sh**.
But, doing it once shows you you can. It shows you that "Oh, that's the worst that can happen?"
Then, you throw it again and that 90% becomes 80%, then 70% until you get that one where you stick.
And you forget about all the falls before. The tears of frustration you cried.
All from just throwing it once.
Sum up the courage.
Pull up your spandex.
Hit the gym.
And just do it. It's the only way.
I can't make you do tumble. Your mom can't make you tumble. Your coach can't.
Tumbling is all on you.
It's about how badly you want it. It's about learning to land on your face and do it again.
Cheerleading, especially tumbling, has increased my awareness of my strengths and areas for growth (not even just in cheer, either). I learned very early on that I was almost exclusively designed to be a cheerleader. I couldn't do ballet, and in gymnastics the only apparatus I even halfway excelled at was the floor. When I joined cheer, it was like I had found my one true sport. The best thing about cheering was finding that I had (and still have) a great mental fortitude. Even when the routine makes my lungs ache, and my body wants to stop, I have always willed my body to push harder, try more, do better. This, I think, is my greatest strength, both when it comes to cheer and the world beyond. When everything tells me I should quit and take what I can get, I will myself to keep going, no matter the cost to my mind or body.
In a way, though, this is also one of my weaknesses. I don't know when to stop. For cheerleading, I will push my mind and body to the very edge, over and over again, every day, no matter what. I love the sport too much to stop what I'm doing. And, when I don't slow down to see the repercussions my intensity is having, I end up hurt. At the end of December, I kept pushing myself, even though I was already tired out, and I ended up spraining my ankle so badly I couldn't walk for three days, and it took weeks after that for me to even have normal function again. Even now I am still recovering. So, my greatest strength also happens to be my greatest weakness.
Without cheerleading, I don't think I could have ever learned this about myself, because nothing else I do tests me in the way cheerleading has. Truly, my sport has helped me to see the good and bad of myself, and has forced me to reconcile myself with the fact that I will never be able to change this aspect of myself, because I love the sport too much. Even if I knew that years down the road I would have this lasting injury, or that lasting injury, I would still keep cheering until I couldn't physically manage the intensity anymore.
In that respect, I suppose I could also say that one of the strengths cheerleading has given me is my obscenely overwhelming and sometimes irrational love for the sport, and capacity to love in general. I could never stop cheering, and I won't until I'm forced to. I have been a cheerleader for ten years, and I don't think it's possible to stop being something that has defined every aspect of who I am for so long. Even when I can't cheer anymore, I will always be a cheerleader. So, cheerleading has also strengthened my ability to love. I love people the same way I love cheer, withe fiery passion and unparalleled dedication. I will do anything for my best friends, and I will do anything for cheerleading, no matter the cost (unless, of course, the cost is some sort of crime. I'm less cool with that).
So, on that note, I think I'm done for tonight. If the mood so suits you, lets have some comments about activities that have helped you to grow and learn about yourself, or activities you love with the fiery passion of a thousand suns, yes??
Have a fantastic day!!
Jordy
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