Motivation

This week’s blog post came to me while I was running, as do many of my brilliant and not so brilliant ideas.  There was a group of us who frequently got together to run wearing various themed outfits before I took my mid-deployment leave.  While I was gone the group continued to run together every Sunday at 10:00 in the morning.  My first Sunday back was the Oreo 5K.  We ate an Oreo every kilometer.  I can guarantee that at the end of the run we consumed more calories than we burned running, but we did have fun.  

While we were running I was chatting with a few of our fellow runners.  One of the runners is a submariner.  We were talking about women on subs.  When I was commissioned women were not allowed on subs.  I was not upset in any way that I was not allowed to serve on a sub, I had no desire.  As a matter of fact, when I spent my first college summer with the Navy we spend one week with each of the communities we could commission into.  For my sub week we spent one week underway on a sub and as I entered the hatch to board the boat I wanted to turn around and leave.  There was nothing in the community that appealed to me.

While we were running we were talking about National Women’s Day and women doing jobs traditionally held by men.  I have a strong opinion on this.  I do believe women should be able to do whatever job they want to and have a passion for.  What irritates me about women’s rights and things like National Women’s Day is the motivation behind what you are doing.  What are we really celebrating on these days?  If you are becoming a submariner (or insert any career) because all your life all you wanted to do was become a submariner, I am very happy for you and I wish you the best of luck on your pursuit to break down barriers.  If you are becoming a submariner because you want to prove to someone else that you are capable of doing something, then don’t.  Your heart is not in it and you are doing it, of course in my mind, for all the wrong reasons.  Just because I didn’t want to be a submarine officer doesn’t mean I can’t; I just didn’t want to.  I wanted to apply my skills and passion somewhere else.  I didn’t have the drive or desire to make that my career.  I have nothing to prove, I know if I wanted to I could have, there was just something I wanted to do more.

Speaking of a woman who paved the way for future women, I have a story to tell you about one very famous woman who made a difference for women aviators around the world.  A few days ago Timyra came home from school and said, “Grandma, did you hear the news.”  My mom said, “Well I’ve heard lots of news, which story are you speaking of?”  Timyra told her they found Amelia Earhart.  That week in school Timyra did a group project about Amelia Earhart.  The interesting part of this story is that when I was in second grade I also did a project about Amelia Earhart.  Now I really was a “cool” kid so for my report I wrote a rap about Amelia.  When I performed the rap for my second grade class I wore an airplane I made out of a cardboard box and suspenders.  I received a very good grade, but I’m sure everyone in Mrs. Deckers’ second grade class was laughing at me while I performed.

When I work hard and push myself I am not doing it to prove anything to anyone else.  I want to finish an Ironman because ever since my teenage years I wanted to take on the challenge of completing an Ironman distance triathlon.  There is no way I would train enough if I was doing it for anyone but me.  Even if I found the ability to put the training in, I wouldn’t enjoy it.  No one says you have  to be miserable just to prove something.  I know it is probably hard to believe, but I truly enjoy the time I spend training.  Of course I enjoy running the most, but I don’t hate my biking and I’ve seen significant improvements in my ability in the last seven months and plan to continue the training technique I’m using up to and through the Ironman.  While I was home on leave I purchased a new bike along with Garmin Power Pedals.  I’m making the commitment to continue to improve my biking, because I want to do better for myself.

My New Bike and Pedals

I just want to challenge you to look inside and really think about what it is that is motivating you.  Are you too motivated by outside influences that you have lost your true motivation?  Is it time to stop pursuing something because you are only on that path to prove something to someone else?  Have you lost your own motivation and is it time to find that internal spark again?  Lastly remember, just because you don’t have the desire to change the world doesn’t mean you don’t have the internal passion to do something great.  You just need to find it and that can be anything.  Be great at what you love and not what you should love or what someone else thinks you should love.  BE YOU, AND BE MOTIVATED,  BY YOU!!