If We Only Show Our Beautiful Selves ...

If we only show the beautiful parts of ourselves, we're only partly helping this world.

Now, don't get me wrong: I love seeing your beautiful selves. Keep that up. We all need to be inspired, and we need grace and beauty in our lives. But I want to see more.

Why?

The world improves when, in addition to showing beauty, we reveal some of the not-so-pretty parts of ourselves.

Because this game—in the gym and in life—is comprised of the lifts and the failures.(And we need to teach ourselves not to be frightened by the word  "failure." It's a synonym for "lesson learned.")

Try this: Broaden your entire viewpoint.

Consider what is in the photo, as well as what is left out.

Remember:

• We can see the light because the dark surrounds it.

• We can read the words on a page because the page was blank first.

• We can catch the softball because there was an empty space in the pocket of the glove.

• We can lift the bar because once it had no weight on it.

So too it is with our hearts and love. They were empty once. Now, hopefully, we are filling them.

Fitness comes in fits and spurts, but ultimately rises overall if we are truly devoted to bettering ourselves.

So too it is with strength and writing and love.

These lessons are not new. These stories we have heard.

But we need to keep telling them to each other, and we need to keep relearning those lessons that are important. 

We improve through small steps, not by one thunderbolt.

Be brave.

• Show the missed lift.

• Walk out your front door with no make-up once in a while.

• Say "I made a mistake."

The world improves when we admit that we are all fundamentally human.