2018 NPAA Magazine 2018 NPAA Magazine - This is Our Sport | Page 5

A letter to our athletes.
By Dr. Wendy Carvalho-Ashby
Dear Athletes,
A journey to the stage should be about self love, and the process or
evolution of the mind and body to achieve such self realization and
personal goal.
Many people sit in the room of an athletes meeting the day before a
show and are wrought with insecurities... “I wish I was leaner, bigger,
taller, shorter, prettier, more handsome, braver and the list of internal
dialogue goes on and on…”
Believe in yourself.
Believe in self love.
You are good enough.
Celebrate don’t self deprecate.
We are proud of you all.
I question that type of thinking and ask those athletes to “halt” such
negative self doubt... do they not realize that it actually took self love
to achieve their goal?
What is this concept of self love? Isn’t this just a selfish sport and isn’t
every athlete just vain and isn’t the process just a means to win a
trophy and get first place....Not our athletes, not this federation
In the past 5 years I have witnessed something way more powerful
than vanity and self doubt. I have witnessed self prioritizing love so
that these athletes can pay it forward to their families, friends and
community.
So what is this self love I speak of...it’s evident in the choices our
athletes make daily. It’s choosing chicken over a twinkie. It’s the mom
who has to workout at 9:30 pm at night because she has to finish the
day with her family, but she won’t give up on her goals. It’s the student
who has to juggle studying for exams, living with roommates who
tease them but they refuse to compromise their progress and find a
way to get it done. It’s the individual who has 100 or more pounds to
lose and they wipe away their tears of pain with progress on the scale.
It’s the person who is battling with disease and says not today, you will
not take me away. The personal investment In oneself, little sacrifices
and large sacrifices that each competitor makes to better their health
and wellness as a natural competitor is a true sign of self love.
So if you sit the day before a show or of a goal and doubt yourself.
realize this, you are enough. You don’t need to be shorter, taller,
thinner, bigger, younger, older or prettier those self doubts aren’t love
...remember love got you here.
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