Inner Strength
Most of the time I’m known as the shy girl or the quiet girl, the one who’s name always slips your mind. Sometimes you might bump into me and I’ll say sorry then get out of your way or if you cut me in line I’ll keep my mouth shut, because you must be in a hurry. One of the only places where everyone knows my name and I have no problem speaking up or feeling good about myself is at the gym. I walk though the doors of Flying High and I am a new person. Now I exude confidence and I shine with pride. I turn into the kind of person I wish I could be everywhere else.
I am a gymnast and gymnastics is my life, it’s what I eat, sleep, and drink. It’s the reason why I get up every day and without it I would be lost. It has trained me to be strong, powerful, and tough. This has shown me that I can do twice as many push-ups than most of the kids in my gym class. I can walk on my hands just as well as my feet. Also I often find myself finishing my homework sitting in the splits. If you were to measure my bicep you’d see 12 inches of strength but if you were to look into my heart you’d find that internally I am not as strong. I train seventeen hours a week to grow as a gymnast but currently at age Fifteen, I am still trying to find a way to grow as a person.
I can’t help but wonder why I haven’t been able to blossom in to a well rounded adult beyond the walls of my gym. I have come to the conclusion that inner strength is much harder to achieve than outer strength. Since I started gymnastics to present time I feel I have changed little as individual outside the gym. Sure, in the gym I get nominated captain for a game or I am put in charge of a conditioning circuit but not much has changed in other environments. What will it take to become strong and confident on the inside, I don’t know, but I am ready and willing to find out. I believe that with the same amount of effort that goes into my gymnastics training devoted to me I will become one of the strongest women around. Not by way of my biceps but by way of my heart.