I went hiking with friends on Saturday. I am now completely and utterly convinced that I can do anything. The hike was beyond my capabilities (the last hour was pretty much straight up), but I made it. Did I stop multiple times to catch my breath? Yes. Did I think in my head, wow, this totally sucks? Yes. Did I make it to the top and enjoy the breathtaking view? Most definitely!

Oddly enough, that wasn't even the worst part of it. I'm going to tell you a secret -- I'm neurotically afraid of the dark. (My house was broken into at one point and I'm still not completely recovered.) Well, we started out too late and the last part of the hike was through the woods into the backyard of the lake house. By the time we got there, it was almost pitch black under the trees. We had no flashlights, so the twenty minute walk it should have been turned into an hour of shuffling our feet, feeling our way over rocks and fallen logs without falling, and me doing my best to control myself and not give in to the wild, screaming panic attack I so desperately wanted to have. Was my favorite part the very last part when my friend pulled out his cell phone to shine light on the last pile of rocks to get into the backyard? Oh dear, sweet Lord yes, yes, yes!

You know what, though? I did it. I refused to let that mountain kick my *kitten* and I refused to let my fears get the best of me. This really amazing person on my friend list told me once that this fitness journey is my opportunity to become my ideal person. Well, I think I became a little bit more like my ideal girl, because my ideal girl is a strong woman who recognizes her fears and realizes she may have bit off a bit more than she would like to chew, but she buckles down and does it anyway, and once she is through it, she looks back and laughs for happiness at breaking through her ideas of her limits and looks ahead to the day when all of her preconceived notions about herself are smashed to the ground and she can live for the first time, proud of who she is and confident in her awesomeness.

The point is, none of us are perfect. We all have our inconsistencies, our insecurities, our faults. Being strong has nothing to do with that -- it has everything to do with how we handle them. Do we let our insecurities stop us from finding someone to fall head over heels in love with? Do we spend all our time pointing out other people's inconsistencies to keep ourselves from having to deal with our own? Do we belittle others to shift the focus off our faults, or do we recognize our imperfections and work our way through them? To me, this is the meaning of strength. I am most definitely not perfect, nor will I ever be, but I'm going to keep living and finding new ways to become that ideal version of myself, and hopefully be able to help a few others in the process. Let's see what happens, shall we? I have a feeling life is about to get incredible over here!