So you're here. Welcome! I'm glad you stopped by. Perhaps I've told you about my project, perhaps we've never met, in any case, here's all the information you might need...
My name is Anna Lise. I am not quite 30, and I am a professional actress living in NYC. I have a great family of people back in the Midwest where I grew up, and a fantastic family of friends here in NYC, including my Dear Boyfriend (or DBF). Over the past year, because of both inspiring friends and some personal hardships and hurdles, I decided that I wanted to erase some "tapes" that I have accepted as truths. Maybe you know what this means... Tapes that play on loop and are things you now believe to be true. The things that you have always believed to be true about yourself. Some are positive, and hopefully also true in the real world. Like:
--I am a good singer.
This is a true statement. Both to me and to the world (at least I hope so!). I am thankful for this tape that plays on repeat in my head. However, there are also some Negative Tapes (NTs). Like this one:
--I am not attractive.
Or...
--I can't do anything right.
Or...
--I never finish anything I start.
And...
--I am not an athlete. At all. End of sentence. Period.
I am sure you are like me, and you have some of your own Negative Tapes, or Non-Truths you've accepted over the year. I think it's part of being human. But the question came to me: how do you change them? How do you erase nearly 30 years of "truth" from your understanding of yourself in the world?
Well, there seem to be a ton of options. You can tell yourself otherwise (like my current favorite YouTube Obsession, Little Miss Jessica!), I'm sure hypnosis is a route that some people swear by, but then there's empirical evidence. So I thought I'd take some of these Non-Truths, and see what I could do to truly negate them, and prove them absolutely false.
I started with "I am not an athlete".
But I've enjoyed working out from time to time. I also tend to go through spurts where I get quite good at it, whatever "it" of them moment is; yoga, running, just basic gym workouts... but I certainly don't see myself as a particularly "fit" person. Nor a capable person when it comes to the strength of my body. And how sad is that?? To be nearly 30 and think your body isn't capable!
What to do to negate the negative? To prove to myself that this Negative Tape is just absolutely ludicrous?
I decided to run a marathon.
The 2010 NYC Marathon to be exact.
The DBF hates the idea. He believes there is no reason for any person to tax their body for 26.2 miles. My mother warns me that my knees won't last forever. And maybe they won't, but they sure as heck are working now, and I think it's time to get this NT out of my system and accept the reality that:
I am an athlete. I am strong. I am capable and powerful.
This blog will track my (hopeful) progress, my training, as well as many other NTs I come across and my attempts at negating those as well. Please comment, encourage, enlighten, correct, or add to my experience in any way you see fit, and also if you are so moved, feel free to help me raise my funds for donating to my charity organization for which I'm running: Free Arts NYC. You can donate to my personal campaign (my goal is to raise $3000 by race day) by clicking here.
So here goes nothing. Come back often. I am a people pleaser and a perfectionist, so the more people who keep me accountable, to more people I will feel behind me, and it will help me wake up extra early to keep those training runs going!
Graciously yours,
Anna Lise
