When you live an authentic life, you will have to deal with haters. Some you know in real life and some you only know in the virtual world.  Not really sure why that is except maybe they are not living as authentic life as they pretend to be.  Now I’m not saying that just because I live an authentic life, I put everything out there.   Frankly, I don’t.   Frankly, I don’t think that everything in my “real life” needs to be shared online especially because my blog is about my fitness journey.   But as far as my fitness journey goes, I put it all out there pretty much.   I think I’m up front and honest about my goals, my training, accomplishments, and even my failures.   Failures are part of life and anyone who pretends they have never failed at something obviously didn’t get out of their comfort zone.

I’ve been out of my comfort zone since I got off the couch.

Then there are the people who like to throw the stones.    These are the people who have something to say about everything except about themselves.

Starting on this journey 3 years ago was a major step for me.    I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, I was by no means the athletic child.   In my family, I was the heavy one.  I still remember the time my doctor put me on a diet and I was trying to sneak an extra packet of oatmeal for breakfast.  The horrors!    I’ll be authentic and honest and say that growing up I did struggle with confidence, self-image, and whole host of other issues.

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  Yup,

I’ll be honest, I don’t anymore.

It’s not that I think that I have a perfect body or am the best.  In all honesty, there is no such thing as perfect and those who strive for perfection will only end up seeing the flaws anyway. It’s sad really.   I reached the point in my life a long time ago where I realized to just  accept myself for who I am.   You know what?  There are a whole slew of people that not only accept me but think I’m pretty swell too.   I like me and that’s good enough for me. I am who I am now because of who I was then.  I have the drive and determination that I do now because of the struggles that I had then whether those struggles were real or self imposed.

I will honestly say that I have changed since I started running.   I’ve said it before.   I, also, think these changes have been positive for not just my health but my life in general.   It has brought so much to my life and I can not see a point in time where running won’t be in my life in the future.   It has become part of my life.   It is not just something that I do.   It has become part of who I am.

I am a runner.

Yes, there will always be those who do not want to recognize the changes and will continue to try to put you in the box you used to be in.   It bothers them when you go against what they expect of you. Yes, there are those who can not accept that you are allowed, encouraged, and supposed to grow and change in life.   It is the process of life.   The past can not be changed.    It can be accepted or used as a reason to not move forward.   I choose to move forward.

Do you live an authentic life?