“Don’t Let Her Down” ~ Well, I did.

I recently saw this quote meme being shared seemingly EVERYWHERE on Social Media and I had a major problem with it. It absolutely irked me every time I got on Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest or Twitter to see this quote.

Here’s the culprit:

Most of you, if not all, probably felt some gut-stirring, deep down, in regards to some poetic justice about how you were going to go back and fight for the little girl that you once were. I get that. I truly do! It’s just that myself as a little girl had one dream and one dream only: to play in the Women’s National Basketball Association.
By golly, I worked my rear off to get to that point and I got about three points away from actually making it which is a heck of a lot farther than most people do. I was crushed though. What was I to do now? That was my only hope and dream.

After a long and brutal year becoming accustomed to being a NARP (Non Athletic Regular Person) I finally realized what the issue was. At some point in my life, back when I was that little girl, I made the decision that if I didn’t achieve playing in the WNBA than I was a nobody. That I was worthless and that no one would love me or want to be my friend.

That’s where I was so wrong in my “all-knowing” childhood state.

It wasn’t until I boiled down what it was that I wanted out of being in the WNBA that I was able to realign my goals and dreams to something that was still relevant. I wanted to be on the professional sports level because I wanted the opportunity to reach out to young Katie’s, the farm kids and the horse girls, and tell them that it was okay to be tall, skinny, and workout. That it was okay to love horses and cattle and farming and ranching.  I wanted to share that loving all aspects of your upbringing are what make you unique.

I took those attributes of the person that I wanted to be and I found other methods to get to them. Those methods for me were as a rodeo queen, an agriculture/ranching/rodeo/western way of life social media aficionado, and using my college education to reach more individuals.

I guess what I’m saying here is that I let my childhood self down and letting yourself down is a pretty horrible feeling. I don’t like being reminded of that. In reality, though, I didn’t let myself down. I just set myself goals as a child that I wouldn’t be able to follow through on. Once I made those goals, not about a job title or the amount in the bank, and made them about who I was as a person and the effect that I would have on others, that’s when I became the person that my childhood self would have wanted.

If I could revise that quote meme, I think this is how I would have done it: