Contributed by Affiliate Coach Kathy Baske Young, PCC
In the mid 70’s I was transferred to Minneapolis. This was a big deal for me…my first time living away from home; a sales position in a company that only had a handful of women salespeople; and I even worked in the same office building where my idol, Mary Tyler Moore worked. When at the beginning of each episode they sang “girl, you’re gonna make it after all.” I just knew it was for me. In fact, and I’m a little embarrassed to admit this, I actually did stand on that now famous corner and threw my hat up over my head. I felt empowered…and it felt good.
Fast forward to a few years ago when the Botetourt Athletic Club opened up near my house. Lots of exercise options and I ventured into virgin territory for me…I tried out the Body Pump class. For those of you not familiar, this is a weightlifting class, and amazingly,,,I fell in love. I was lifting a bar bell for an hour, and slowly but surely increasing the amount of weight I could lift. It was incredible. I’m telling you that as a woman, lifting weights gives you a sense of power that is amazing. Once again, I felt empowered (but in a different way), and it felt good.
Anyway, during the cool down they played this amazing song called “Proud”. If you can imagine, you’ve just finished an hour long workout, you are aching all over, and this woman with a powerful “Cher” voice asks “What have you done today to make you feel proud?” And you know what? Coming to that class and working out hard with weights made me proud. I started listening to the rest of the lyrics…
Still so many answers I don’t know
Realize that to question is how we grow
So I step out of the ordinary
I can feel my soul ascending
I am on my way
Can’t stop me now
And you can do the same.
And I thought, what a wonderful theme song for my life.
You see, it was only a few months earlier that I stopped making New Years resolutions. They never seemed to be more than an “I should” list, and they seldom energized me or really spoke to what was in my heart. I didn’t need a resolution…I needed a theme song…something that resonated with me on many levels.
I have read that there are three stages…
- What they want from you
- What you want for yourself
- And what wants you.
The Mary Tyler Moore theme was perfect when I was in phase two – what I wanted for myself, but I was feeling the gnawing feeling that comes from the latter…what wanted me? Why was I here? And when I heard the words “what have you done today to make you feel proud”, I knew I found my new theme song. Was I proud of the work I did today? Was I proud of the way I treated people today? Was I proud of how I contributed to making this a better world? Was I proud of how I was using my God-given talents? Wasn’t that what mattered? Wasn’t this a better measure of success than losing weight, or trying to keep my office neater, or any of the other resolutions I tried and failed at?
Since then, every evening before I drift off, I review my day against those words…What have I done today to make me feel proud? That’s a question that only I could answer …and that answer had to come from my heart. It wasn’t something anyone could give me. Some days I do feel proud, some days I am disappointed. And I pray for another day to do better.