What Can a Homecoming Queen and Football Star Teach Us?

This past weekend was Georgetown University’s Homecoming and Football game.  I wouldn’t ordinarily know that as I’m not a football fan.  My daughter Margo could be a top sports broadcaster if she wanted to be, but that apple is not from my tree.

I was at Georgetown University for the Achieving Optimal Health Conference and had the honor to be the “preshow” to energize and inspire the audience before Keith Mitchell, former NFL linebacker began the keynote.

So stay with me here for a moment while I fantasize… what messages can a former homecoming queen and Football star provide?  Not many people know that I was my high school homecoming queen.  This does not come up in normal business or dinner party conversation.  I tell you this now as a confession, as I so desperately wanted to win this honor.  I so wanted to be popular and to fit in high school. I was a people pleaser. In fact I am still a recovering people pleaser and it’s been a challenge to put myself back on my to do list. The conference emphasized our need to refuel our own gas tank if we want energy to keep on going.

Keith Mitchell talked about the armor that he wore as a pro football player, not just the external pads and helmet but how he couldn’t afford to show any pain or injury or any sign of weakness. He definitely did not want to appear vulnerable.  Keith never left the playing field, or nurtured any wound, until an injury that almost killed him.  He crushed his c2-C4 vertebrae causing paralysis and had to be carried off the field.  It wasn’t until he let go of his armor and allowed himself to be vulnerable that he discovered his true inner self and power.

At the preshow, I led a yoga dance where we started with the song Amazing Grace and practiced deep belly breathing to stimulate our parasympathetic nervous system, the counter to fight or flight. We then danced to Colbie Caillat’s song “TRY” to remind ourselves to love and accept ourselves instead of the “no pain, no gain” mentality. Then we danced to Let it Grow so we  could practice PLAY and get out of our head and into our body.

For me it was such a thrill to see 3-400 people all smiling and moving together. 

In his keynote Keith observed how many people hesitated in the beginning, looking around, afraid to look silly and spoke about how this is a type of armor we all carry. It is important to practice play and be vulnerable to show our authentic self.

I may have fit in in High School, but now I am advocating for us all to rethink and question everything. Dare to be different. Dare to be vulnerable. When you are working in complementary and alternative medicine, it takes courage to step out of your comfort zone.  When my daughter chose an integrative and complementary approach to her cancer treatment that took courage.  It took courage for me to write and publish my book and to announce our current medical model is broken and our need for a new wellness model that is focused on self love and self care.   It takes courage for BB&R Wellness Consulting to put on the Achieving Optimal Health Conference every year.  It took courage for Keith Mitchell to tell the world that yoga and meditation and vulnerability are paths to strength. 

Thank you fellow warriors. 

As I said in my book, the paradox is that we must stop the war against ourselves. We need to foster love, not war and paradoxically, we need to fight for it.  The weapon we need is love and I has to start with self-love. This is not an ego driven love, but a deeper self-love and respect—a true knowing that we are OK just as we are. It is a rediscovery that we are all worthy of self love.  Self–love is not selfish, it is the most giving love of all.

Carpe Diem