Athletes only.

This is the sign that greets me four days a week at the gym. It took me a long time to see that sign was meant for me. I spent my first months apologizing profusely. “Am I in your way? Sorry! I’ll move!” Because the other people there were the REAL athletes. I felt like I snuck into the real athlete club where my strength, agility and speed were a joke compared with everyone else.

But as it turns out, I was the only thinking that way. I was the only one holding myself back from being an athlete. We are ALL working for the same thing — to get a little stronger and push our limits a little further. It doesn’t matter how much weight is on the bar or fast your sprints are. You show up. You give your best effort. You try to get a little better and learn a lot along the way. That’s my definition of an athlete. What’s yours?