Ever since I was a little girl, I wanted to be like that girl. Smart, beautiful, top of her class, popular and a little bit beyond reach. Well, my reach at least. Maybe because I was speechless around her, I followed her from a distance around the school campus. Long before Facebook and Instagram came, I was already an observer, to put it prettily. But just the same, it was my brand of stalking. I took note of all the things she liked, what she did, who her friends were, what she wore, what she read, how she breathed… Ok, that last part is an exaggeration, but you get the picture, yes?
Oh how I wanted that girl to “like” me, to “see” me, to know I exist…I wanted to be her friend, her sister, her barkada.
As I grew older and moved on to corporate and married life, that girl evolved in my vivid imagination. I kept up with my mental image of her and her myriad of accomplishments. I continued to aspire to be like her.
I see her as someone who wakes up in the morning quite early to begin the day doing what she loves most. She laces up her shoes and shows up on the street come rain or come shine. That girl goes to the gym regularly and makes time for that very special part of the day to exercise and invigorate. She values her health through fitness and eating clean.
“The body determines our mental and spiritual energies. With the new body we can put on the new person and build a new life…No life can be completely lived without being lived completely on a physical level.” – Dr. George Sheehan, Running and Being