Talk about blink and you miss it! It barely seems like I was in Melbourne just three weeks ago – the lead up to attending the inaugural Australian Arnold Classic seemed to drag for ages – especially for my daughter Bronte who was the one actually DOING the training for the event lol!. Then all of a sudden it was time to pack, get to the airport and fly to Melbourne!
Arrive we did though, Bronte, myself and our good friend Wendy. We met my brother Peter over there who was working at the event and soon settled into a groove of prepping food, working out where to taxi to in order to get tanning sorted, where and how to register and all of the other fun stuff that goes with attending a huge event like this.
Despite getting to see lots of well known fitness “heroes” and lots of interesting expo features, the highlight for all of us though was seeing Bronte fulfill what had been an extremely hard-fought for dream of winning a medal over there. She had been secretly hopeful of making top 5, so to actually receive the bronze – and learn later that she had topped the routine round – was an incredible moment for her and all of us as a team.
And it was a team effort. As much as bodybuilding is an individual sport, it really does take a village to help the individual make it up there. From assisting with food prep, filming of posing and routine practises, makeup and hair assistance, tanning prep, week to week pep talks, encouragement etc etc, those around the competitor are almost as invested as the individual themselves.
Which brings me back to everyday folks like you and me. We may not be training to get on stage, but I can guarantee that if I wandered around our gym and asked “what are you aiming for?” I would get all sorts of answers: “to participate in my kid’s athletic carnival parents’ race,” “to walk in a 5 km fundraiser,” “to fit my old jeans,” “to climb the stairs at work without puffing.”
Most people have goals of some type or other and those of us in relationship with them have two choices – to be part of their “village” that helps them achieve, or to be so focused on ourselves that we fail to see that others need encouragement too.
Here’s to all of us achieving our goals together 🙂
