One Rising Star

 “Gratitude unlocks the fullness of life; it turns what we have into enough, and more.” I may not have the husband, the family, the house or the job I once dreamed of having.  I may not be the fittest, the trendiest or the most sutnning and confident woman around.  However, I am well aware that I have so many things to be grateful for; including my family, my friends, my safety, my health…and so much more! Some of us sit around from time to time feeling sorry for ourselves.  We feel overwhelmed, frustrated, unhappy, then suddenly we spiral into a negative vortex. We beat ourselves up for making certain choices, and/or for not being who and where we think we should be at a certain point in our lives.  We are constantly being told to aim high, to set goals, and to keep bettering ourselves, but unfortunately, while we’re so busy striving for more, we often forget to enjoy the present moment, and all that we already have.  Of course, we should always try improving ourselves, but more impor

 “Don’t underestimate the power of a PAUSE; it allows you to reflect, recharge and refocus.” We live in such a fast pace world. These days, when people ask how we’re doing, we regularly say “I am so busy!” and “I am so tired!” When we are not occupied, we think something is wrong, we feel lazy, and we immediately try to find things to do to fill up our time. We’re constantly looking to move forward; to go, go go and to do, do, do. Why is it so difficult to stop and take a break? For me personally, when I am in ‘work mode’, my routine is pretty consistent; work, gym, eat, sleep, repeat. In the past, I was really hard on myself when I didn’t feel productive and accomplished, but over the last few years, I have really tried to look for and embrace ‘down time’. Now, I am more aware of my needs and my boundaries. I am capable of laying on the couch and watching TV without feeling guilty. I can also turn down weekend plans if I don’t feel like socialising and would prefer to have a restful n

 “Know when to push, know when to pull back, know when enough is enough.” I should be in Egypt right now, competing in a big fitness competition I qualified for over the summer…but nope! Over the last few months, my anxiety levels began rising again, and after a few consecutive breakdowns, and several nights of poor sleep, I knew it would be wise to ‘take something off my plate’.  Knowing myself, and my competitive edge, I could’ve still competed even with the bad sleep, diet and training, but at what cost?  Withdrawing from the competition was a really difficult last minute decision. I felt I was failing at seeing something through that I had committed to. However, I know that there are more important things in life, especially my health. Even though I didn’t make it to the competition floor, I know deep down that my efforts in training have not been for nothing. There have been several ‘wins’ over the last few months. Most of my gymnastic skills improved, I hit some new PRs on a few

 “Once in a while, it’s good to challenge yourself in a way that’s really daunting.” Since returning to Dubai in January 2020, I have participated in numerous fitness events around the city, mostly in pairs, trios or teams of 4,5,6 athletes ( aside from our internal community weightlifting/powerlifting throwdowns ). Many of these events have challenged me with new formats ( e.g. Hyrox and Primal Race ), movemenents ( e.g. swimming and sled pulls ) and/or equipement ( e.g. the worm and the yoke ). Being part of a team has been a whole lot of fun, and I’ve been so incredibly blessed to team-up with some really good athletes who have pushed me to achieve great things, both in training and in competition. That said, for a little while now, I’ve sort of wondered what it’d be like to compete individually again. Are my body and mind still up for this kind of challenge?   Throughout my time living in Vietnam, from 2017 to 2019, I became fully invested in the sport of CrossFit. I thoroughly enj

  “Be brave. Take risks. Nothing can substitute the experience.” As I was getting ready to embark on yet another adventure, this time to Miami, USA and Montego Bay, Jamaica, several people were eager to ask the question “Alone?”. ( I also got asked that same question numerous times throughout my travels .) Of course, there are some people who are no longer surprised by my ‘crazy’ adventures, but there are still many who, mainly due to the media and/or society’s expectations, disagree and/or have concerns about females travelling alone. Travelling solo, I will admit, isn’t always ideal. In addition to feeling lonely at times, not being able to share foods or split taxi/hotel costs, and struggling to have any decent pictures taken of myself ( Major dilemma, I know! ), I do often worry about my safety, particularly due to the fact that I’m a single female whose physical appearance sticks out almost everywhere I go. I am often on high alert, and constantly checking my surroundings. I tend

  “Sometimes we strive so hard for perfection that we forget that imperfection is happiness.” At a very young age, my parents signed me up for ice skating. They invested lots of money over the years, on skates, outfits, coaches, private lessons, and competitions, and I of course invested lots of time into improving my skills. Throughout my childhood and teenage years, you could find me at the ice rink most days, trying to prepare for my next test, competition or show. Now, I was a decent skater, but realistically, I wasn’t on a path to the Olympics. Once I went off to university, some difficult choices needed to be made, and for some reason, I decided to quit skating and invest more time in my education and career, as well as playing soccer during the summers. For several years after college, soccer became my main sport. Especially when I first moved to Dubai; I played indoor, outdoor, 7 aside, 11 aside, womens leagues and mixed leagues. Some weeks, I was playing 6 consecutive nights,