Let’s talk about cheerleaders
Those who know me probably would say that I’m not really the “cheerleader” type. Growing up when I got “ready for a game” it did not involve a skirt, pom poms, or sparkly eyeshadow. I played on the court, wore the jersey, and scored the points. Don’t cruicify me here, but in a past life I may have mocked cheerleaders a bit. But I’m older and wiser now, so allow me to give a few props to the following pep squads:
-the gals who kept cheering and kept the crowd “into it” even when we were behind by 10 points with a minute left in the game.
-to the friend who sends flowers after you choke back tears and respond “my son is 6 weeks old” when someone asks when you’re due.
-to the mom who sees the fatigue in your eyes and folds two loads of laundry while distracting the kids so you can shower without an audience or pee without someone on your lap (GROSS- I know, but don’t even pretend like you other moms are above it. I refuse to hear it!).
-to the friends who throw an impromptu birthday party for one of your littles…because they are dead set on helping me make her feel special in every way.
-to the friends who leave work to sit in the back row of your grandma’s funeral and let you ugly cry without judgment cause they know you’re hurting.
-to the babies who say “MOMMY!!!” and sprint to clutch your leg with such innocent excitement that you suddenly forget about the crazy busy day or the wanker who just cut you off in traffic.
-to the friends who send you frequent texts full of lies like “You’re beautiful.”, “You’re doing a great job”, or “Stop being so hard on yourself” when you’re in a slump that’s turned into a damn Grand Canyon (AKA: Aunt Flo is coming.)
-to the teachers who say “I don’t expect you to be perfect the first time you do this…but I don’t expect you to stop trying until you are dang close to perfect.”
-to the hubbies who come up behind you with a cheek kiss and a “You are beautiful,” as you step on the scale and sigh…again.
-to the friend who says “You can do it. I know you can” as you’re breathing heavy, want to let your mind win, and just stop running.
The truth is: we all need cheerleaders.
The truth is: I could not get through a single day with out mine.
If you don’t have one, find one. If you have three, tell them you love them and make sure you pull out the megaphone and pom poms for them too. This game of life can be tough; we can get behind, we can lose focus, we can even fall down and lose. But if we surround ourselves with cheerleaders; the downs will be doable, the losses will be lessons, and there will be a helping hand to pull us out of our damn Grand Canyons.
To all you people…you wonderful people…my squad with the invisible pom-poms who have kept me up and kept me in the game.
You are A-M-A-Z-I-N-G! (Insert peppy head knod, loud clap, and muscle-pulling high kick here)