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Earning your place on a team to represent your country is something I don't take lightly. I take great pride in achieving above and beyond the requirements to be bestowed the honour of wearing the green and gold. For me it's not just enough to qualify, I want to know that when I stand up to represent I have the best opportunity to do my country and my supporters proud if I can't do that I won't stand up to represent.
Time and time again I have proven that this girl has the resilience to fight through anything and achieve the impossible. I am well in tune with my body and mind in the field of battle that I don't give up until the end, never showing the pain or weakness until after the battle is over.
Whatever the result, nobody can ever say that Cindy didn't give 100% on the day. The resilience I have not even I understand it, I just trust it.
Being a coach, an athlete, and a person of influence come with great responsibilities of leadership. I wear that badge of honour with pride.
Over the past few days, I was faced with the decision of having to pull out of the WKSF World Championships that I had worked so hard to qualify for, doing so with a #GSAA Australian record at the time.
At first, I was trying to convince myself that I would get better quick, positive thoughts, all the natural remedies in the world, rest rest rest!
But this virus dug its claws in deep, every time I decided I would still go, my fever would come back, and put me back to bed.
There were so many signs that lead up to me falling so ill, have that resilience you are blindsided by it until its too late. I love the body and its way of pulling you up when you don't know when to stop. I'm no stranger to this from years of body abuse.
From that experience I became an advocate through my business about listening and looking after your health first and foremost. Without good health, life can be challenging. For me selfishly jumping on a plane with a virus putting other peoples health at risk would go against all I stand for.
Being your own Brave is putting your goals and ego aside for your own wellbeing.
Braveness is knowing when to say no.
It's knowing that you could have stood on that platform on the world stage at 70% strength and given everything to achieve the impossible. For what? Long after the accolades have expired I could cause irreversible damage to my body like before (hello autoimmune disorder)
Today is a timely reminder that I needed to take my own advice and put health first over all else.
There are no amount of titles or medals in this world that can replace good health. You see a champion isn't what they have hanging around their neck.
Someone said to me today after I made the decision not to go "don't worry, just lift on Friday when you would be lifting and see if you could have won"
But to me to think like that would be disrespectful to the person that will win.
Too many times I've heard Oh I would have won if, I should have won because. The fact is someone wins on their own merit for turning uplifting clean reps. I choose not to think what if, but I'm choosing health
Life is a matter of choices, every choice you make makes you
