Why Alysia Montano wears a flower in her hair during every race

 

Even though she grew up playing football, shooting hoops and running races against all the boys in her neighborhood, U.S. 800-meter champion Alysia Montano never wanted to be thought of as one of them.

As a result, she started wearing a flower behind her right ear to remind the boys they were getting beat by a girl.

The flower remains Montano’s trademark even though her opponents are now world-class female middle-distance runners. The Southern California native donned a red flower to match her red Team USA jersey in London when she breezed to a victory in her heat during the first round of qualifying in the women’s 800 meters.

“The flower to me means strength with femininity,” Montano said in June after winning the 800 at the U.S. Olympic trials. “I think that a lot of people say things like you run like a girl. That doesn’t mean you have to run soft or you have to run dainty. It means that you’re strong.”

 

When Words Fail Me…

“And I’m complicated, you won’t get me, I have trouble, understanding myself.”

My Pursuit of Happiness

Last year was sort of a rough time for me. And by rough time I don’t mean the usual crap pms-ing girls bitch about. I mean 365 days of major screwing up.

Okay maybe I’m exaggerating a bit. I mean, I did have the occasional once-in-a-life-time moment and little achievements every now and then. But still, I did screw up big time.

What bothers me the most, is not my screw ups, for I have dwelled on those for far too long. But rather the fact that I let my mistakes turn me into a complete drag. For a long time, I was a walking mass of negative energy. And it was exhausting. For everyone.

Too much guilt, remorse and self-hate. And for what? No matter how bad I felt, I could never turn back time nor would I ever undo the things I did. So I got over it, and instead busied myself with searching for “happiness.”

And lemme tell you right now, that shit doesn’t work.

You won’t wake up one day with a brilliant epiphany about how to be happy. Nor will you find the answer in some pretentious self-help book.

All you need to do is focus on being a better version of you, and you’ll come to a conclusion all by yourself. Otherwise, you won’t recognize happiness if it hit you in the face. And all the advice in the world will sound more cheesy than a 12 year old’s facebook  status update.

Nonetheless, I decided to summarize my summer’s worth of ‘conclusions’ right here. You might find them useful, save for a little cheesiness here and there.

Here goes:

1. It’s all in your head. You don’t control what happens to you, but you do control how you feel about it. So transforming your way of thought is the first step of any sort of improvement whatsoever.
2. Think positive. There is ALWAYS a silver lining. Although hard to spot at times, but it’s always there. You only need to look close enough.
3. What if it was me? This is a question that I try to ask myself every time someone does something to piss me off. After I control the urge to punch them in the face. (No YOU need anger management.) But seriously, it works. I try to imagine how I would feel if I had their lives and experiences. I almost always excuse their actions.
4. Stop complaining. Someone out there just died from hunger, or abuse, or a chronic disease. This thought alone is enough to make all my problems seem petty.
5. Be grateful. If you’re reading this, you probably have a personal computer and an internet connection. Chances are you have everything you need and more. But you just need to remind yourself of that more often.
6. Take the blame. It’s always easier to blame someone else for your own shortcomings. But if you let your parents, teachers, friends, neighbors, or anyone make life-changing decisions for you, then it’s your own goddamn fault. Stop pointing fingers, and start taking action. You’re in control of your own life.
7. Be present. Our world is beautiful. The real world, that is. The one that exists offline. Try deactivating your social network accounts for a week, and not only will you have a shitload of free time, but you’ll also realize how inane they really are.
8. Workout! I swear on all that is good and holy, it is impossible to be in a bad mood if you workout on a daily basis. I’m not saying you should turn into a jock or a gym rat, just get those endorphins pumpin’.
9. Eat clean. ‘You are what you eat’ never made sense until I started eating healthy food. Honestly, I’ve never felt better in my life. Keeping in mind that it’s not a diet, it’s a lifestyle. I am 100% against depriving yourself of food that makes you happy, just as long as you decrease your portions and eat it less often. Just stay away from trans fats and empty calories, stock up on your fruits and veggies, and you’re good to go!
10. Sleep. When all else fails, make love to your bed.

If you’re reading this (and not rolling your eyes) I hope you find any of it useful. If not, just spend more time philosophizing in the shower. It works.
I swear.

Who am I?

 

Describe yourself in 140 characters. This is one of the basic steps of signing up for a twitter account. And one that has continuously challenged me for as long as I can remember. I look from my keyboard to my screen and back, still clueless as to what defines me as a person.

As a child, every cell in my being longed to get out. Out of the house. Out of class. Out of anywhere, really. I’ve always hated any sort of confinement whatsoever. I just wanted to build things, climb trees or play football with the boys. I’ve never really had a main interest or a hobby, if you will.

Even now, as a teenager, I can’t seem to find something that I love and stick to it. It’s either unhealthy obsession, or utter nonchalance. There’s no middle way with me. I’m not sure if I’m yet to find something that renders me forever engrossed, or if I suffer from a severe case of ADD. I’m betting it’s the latter though.

So I decided to put an end to my lifetime of cluelessness. No more joining every single club and student group on campus. Or simultaneously reading 4 books. No more learning French one week, and Italian the next. No more spending days on end experimenting with food in the kitchen. Or starting a new programming language every other day.

I am going to spend an entire semester with no extracurricular activities whatsoever. *gulps*

For now, I’ll focus only on working out daily and eating clean.

I need persistence goddammit.

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