The Strength Within
How Fitness and Self-Discovery Shapes Success
I’d like to say I was a lifelong fitness enthusiast but that isn’t true. As a child, I wanted to be physically fit and athletic but it was not in the cards for me. Severe asthma left me breathing into a brown paper bag on the sidelines and a debilitating eye condition called amblyopia, (my left eye is nearly blind), meant that, with no depth perception, I was to forever be the “last one picked for the team.”
During middle school, I was too young to work, old enough to be home by myself but idle enough to have begun getting in trouble. My saving grace was wandering into a YMCA to kill time after school. I started going to the weight room and pushing weights around. I had no idea what I was doing but kind people showed me what to do and what muscles I was working. It felt so good to feel a sense of control moving my body. I could push heavy things on purpose and muscles would form in places that were once squishy bits. It was like magic.
The best part was how weight training made me feel emotionally. I felt happier and gained a sense of control (something I have learned we need for good mental health, called a “locus of control.”) My self-esteem improved. I could set goals for myself and work to reach them, building successes I never believed possible for myself. I pursued weight training all through high school and was one of a few girls that joined the school’s competitive powerlifting team.
My senior year in high school, I decided maybe I could push my body in other ways and began my first attempts at running. Initially, I “ran” 1-2 blocks and then sat on a curb breathing into a paper bag until my asthma attack subsided enough to slowly walk home. Tenacious and undaunted, I kept after my goal, gradually working my way up to running 2-3 miles at a time, and ultimately up to 6 miles over as many years.
In later years, I learned Karate, Step Aerobics, Yoga, Tai Chi and Qigong many of which I still practice today. Each of these activities gave me new skills. New ways of connecting my mind and body. New ways of overcoming challenges and proving to myself what I am capable of. It should come as no surprise these traits are tied to a growth mindset. People with a growth mindset experience life at a higher level, achieving greater success, meaning and purpose in their lives.
If I had allowed my early experiences with sports and exercise to define my future, I would be a very different person. Finding my inner athlete has opened doors of self-awareness, self-esteem and self-agency that have changed my life for the better. I was fortunate to have an inner drive to discover movement that worked for me. Unfortunately, we often allow kids to throw in the towel after one negative experience. Alternatively, we can demand too much of our children when it comes to sports participation and performance, setting them up for burnout or worse, a lifelong disdain for exercise.
We owe it to our children to introduce them to opportunities to move their bodies in ways they can build a stronger sense of self. Sports, dance, PE and other organized movement experiences must be tailored to meet each child where they are. Challenges must be individualized so that each student has fun and builds confidence as they gain new skills. This might not fit into standardized curricula but what good is a standardized PE curriculum if students do not achieve the intended outcomes? Our schools are full of kids who are not thriving academically, socially, emotionally or physically. PE is often an afterthought, if offered at all. There is a lack of widespread understanding of the role movement plays in cognitive development. If we want to see improved standardized test scores, we must provide individualized movement experiences.
The PQ Initiative is about prioritizing physical education in the same way we promote literacy. We have to teach the alphabet before we teach reading comprehension. Children today are not receiving the benefit of fundamental physical literacy - movement for attainment of developmental milestones needed for higher order skills, both physical and mental. Regardless of where a student is on the spectrum of physical intelligence, teachers and caregivers can provide positive movement opportunities that instill a sense of pride and emotional connection in kids.
