“Reach back.

…remember your conditioning!” One of my soccer coaches used to scream that from the sidelines. Mind you that this was over a quarter of a century ago. I continue to play it over in my head, and it has become one of my mantras. A what? Mantra. (mahn-trah). Means something like “a word or phrase you repeat to yourself to get you through tough times”. Examples other than the one above might include:

• “Gonna fly now!”
• “I think I can, I think I can”
• “One.More.Rep”
• “Back awaaaaaay from the cookies”
• “Say my name, say
• “Mama say mama sa ma ma hoo sah”
• “Don’t pants my poop, don’t pants my poop”

Get the picture? Good. I find it helpful and entertaining to have a mantra. Even better when I actually USE the flippin’ thing. Our son, Bryce, has picked up on this, too. I’ve always said to him (when appropriate. not just randomly!) “Never give up!” He’ll say it on occasion when he is struggling with something, and I get a nice warm fuzzy feeling inside.  One day, as I was struggling on the treadmill and he was playing a video game nearby, I must have been complaining aloud about how i was struggling. You know what he said, without even looking up from his game?

“suck it up, buttercup.”

I love that kid! I laughed, he laughed, we embraced, ran through a field of daisies, and then went out for creemees. Ok, not really. But if it had been a MOVIE, we just might have done that. Instead, we laughed, I thanked him, and plodded on through the workout.

And he was right. He’s heard me say that one, too, and I believe that it doesn’t hurt to have some ‘negative’ mantras in the mix. Remember the whole ‘carrot and stick’ theory? This applies to mantras as well. See? They’re everywhere…..

Hit us up with some of your mantras!