“Life is 10% what happens to you and 90% how you react to it.” - Charles R. Swindoll

Sometimes bad things happen to good people – that’s called life. That’s just how it goes sometimes. But sometimes, those bad things really aren’t all that bad after all. Sometimes, those bad things are opportunities, awakenings, and changes, disguised as something much uglier. Perhaps we should consider setbacks to be setups for revolutions.

A few years ago, a person whose opinion I once valued told me that the difference between me and “hotter girls” was the fact that I was strong and not skinny. While some girls may have been able to shake off a comment like that, I could not. That one sentence cut through me like a knife.

Flashback to high school – a few years before. I struggled with eating disorders and body image; an unhealthy obsession that consumed my life. Getting through that time was a long, bumpy, and tough battle, but those demons were conquered.

I fought to love my body for what it could achieve and found myself falling in love with weightlifting. My old determination to be skinnier was replaced with the determination to get stronger. Instead of worrying about how much I weighed, I focused on different numbers – pounds I was squatting and benching, and times and distances I was running. I was finally confident in myself, my ability, and my appearance (because muscles are cool). I had won, or so I thought.

The day that hurtful sentence was said to me, I felt the world crashing down around me once again. My demons had returned. My confidence and love of fitness and strength vanished into thin air. I didn’t want to be fit anymore.

Suddenly it didn’t matter. A person who I cared so much about told me the one thing I spent years trying to convince myself was not true. I fell apart. I quit my membership at my local CrossFit gym, making up excuses to tell my friends and coaches why I was suddenly quitting something I loved so much. When I would reach for a healthy snack I would hear tiny voices in my head telling me that it would make me fatter and uglier. One sentence. One sentence destroyed years of growing stronger, healthier, and happier.

I fell down pretty hard you could say, but there’s a famous saying about falling down that goes something like this: “fall down seven times, stand up eight”. I had fought for my life before, and I knew I could do it again. I stood up; I rose up.

Along my path to win back my health and happiness, I discovered things about myself I never knew. My passion for strength and fitness returned and even exceeded the point it was at before.

New passions also emerged throughout my comeback – surfing, rock climbing, and everything in between. I didn’t just return to my old self after my setback. Rather, I went above and beyond, finding a new self.

Sometimes I look back and laugh a little over why I thought being strong was such a negative thing in the first place - I think it’s pretty badass now. I don’t know why I let someone’s opinion of attractiveness consume my life.

If you ask me, being kind, comfortable, and accepting of yourself is the definition of beauty. Love yourself for who you are, and take care of yourself. Eat foods you nourish your body. Exercise to feel alive.

We only get one body to live in, so might as well take care of it right? Set goals and make improvements for yourself. It’s a beautiful process, I’ve come to learn. Turn your lemons into lemonade, your frowns upside down, and always turn your setbacks into setups for success.