In last blog post, I shared with you that I was often teased as a young girl for being fat. I shared one of two very defining moments that helped shape my life's relationship with fitness. Today, I will share the second story. If you haven't read my last post, I invite you to read that one first so that you have a bit of background...and, it is a good read, if I do say so myself :)
Moment number 2...
I was maybe around 9 years old. I was at my aunt and uncle's house for a family reunion. On this side of the family, I have like 100 cousins (barely exaggerating, btw). Many of us grew up in the same area, same school, same group of friends. Just to give you an idea of how close we were...this particular relatives house was about five miles from my house. Our cousins were our friends. We grew up playing together, hanging out together, and even sometimes getting into trouble together. We had fun. It was a great way to grow up.
During this family reunion, I was on the younger end of all the cousins, at the time. I remember having a good time, eating (probably way too many cookies and bars), running around, playing...you know, doing what kids do in the summer outside at a family reunion. Anyways, I was looking for something else to do so I went to watch the older cousins (maybe around 16-17) play basketball. It looked like they were having a good time so I asked to play. Now, this is the part that really sticks to me...one of my cousins looked at me, laughed and said, "Sure, if you want to be the ball!" I just walked away, sad. I realize this may not seem like much to many people and I am guessing my cousin didn't even mean to really imply I was "fat", but as a young girl who was constantly picked on for being "fat" that is exactly how I embodied it.
I guess the lesson here is to just be nice to people. Don't say things that can be hurtful, even if you don't really think they are, because you NEVER know what the person you're speaking to is dealing with in his/her life. I'm guessing my cousin has zero idea that this even happened and surely has zero idea how it impacted me, especially on my own self-image (so much so that the memory pops into my head when I feel like quitting on a workout and it helps keep me going; the silver lining; ain't nobody calling me a ball again), but I am certain that little events like this impact different people in different ways. Now, I'm far from perfect. I have messed up plenty in my life and I'm sure I will mess up again, but I am trying. Let's all just try together; try to be a better person, to everybody, each day.