Satsified: Tina Bechtel
Tina Bechtel
Athletic History/Accomplishments:
2014-2016 USA National Swimming Team Member
D1 Athlete at the University of Kentucky
2015 SEC Champion & NCAA Runner-Up
5th place at USA Olympic Trials
Current Life After Sport:
Business Sales Associate for Lyft & Blogger
Satisfied.
This single word encompassed so much of my athletic life and has now crept back into my "adult" life.
It is one of those words that will always carry a ton of weight. I found this word in swim practice, in meets, in school, in relationships, in ME.
I was first formerly introduced to satisfied while I was swimming. It is commonly used as a motivator for athletes.
I am sure at some point you remember your coach preaching to you to "never be satisfied" or something similar.
For me, it was at least once a week at practice. My coach would always tell us to never be satisfied with the work we were putting in, because we had more to give.
Being introduced to satisfied in this respect shaped the way I felt it, which simply meant, it was something I never wanted to be. It was synonymous with "content", and then of course if you are content you could become "lazy".
Therefore, I always strived for perfection.
I swam for seventeen years, and could never allow myself to feel satisfied in my athletic success.
And I thought this word was limited to just my athletic life, but honestly, it never was.
Satisfied or rather dissatisfaction has been prominent in my "adult" life. I have found myself questioning everything; my job, my relationships, myself.
In adulthood, I have had trouble distinguishing what I have been successful at and being able to relish in that. I have found that with every accomplishment, I retreat. I don't want to be content in that feeling, and then if I get content, I will be satisfied? Which then means I will lose all motivation, right?
Well, I have slowly found out that, that is wrong.
Over the last two years, I have been able to connect the dots more.
At heart, I am still an athlete. My mind operates this way. And I think that is what has made me so successful (whether I will admit it or not). It is both a blessing and a curse.
I have been working on forgiving myself for being this way.
I have started to realize that there are two sides to satisfaction. There is the motivational side, and the celebratory side.
I will never be perfect, but I will also never be lazy. I am not either one.
I can feel accomplished with parts of my life. I can honor myself for my success'.
I can be satisfied.
