Welcomes, Wobbles and What Strength Means to Me

Hello, and welcome. If you’re reading this, you’re here at my brand new blog and latest project: StrongMum.com

Wanting to share more of my fitness escapades but not wanting to bore the less-fit readers of my main personal blog, I decided to experiment. I created a basic layout and have been happily blogging to myself on my local server for the past month or so. The domain name I wanted finally became available to me yesterday, and here we are. There are bits and bobs still in the works (contact form, sidebar widgets to name a couple) and a logo being especially designed for me, but these will appear in time.

It seems ironic, however, that on the day I should launch a blog entitled “Strong Mum” that I should feel anything but: my workout this morning was pitiful. Everything felt twice as heavy as it should have, and at one point I even checked a 7.5kg dumbbell to check I’d not accidentally picked up a 15kg. Who even am I? A wobbly start to my ‘strong mum’ moniker. Nonetheless, I prevailed. Because strength isn’t about just being able to pick up something really heavy.

Over the past 4-5 years I have been through some incredible major life changes. The end of a 12 year relationship, intensive counselling for childhood trauma, the loss of pets and friends. And then on the flip side: a new relationship, marriage, a house move. Each of these has required strength & some more than others. Running, lifting heavy things, practising martial arts and more recently, pole dancing… these all give me physical strength, but more importantly lay an important foundation for improved mental health that allows me to take on these life challenges and prosper regardless.

Strength is being able to get up and follow through with a fitness routine even if you’d rather be in bed, because you know that you will feel better for doing so. Strength is making active choices that improve your wellbeing even if on the face of it they seem particularly difficult. Strength is choosing to set goals and working towards them because you know it will spur you on further. Strength is getting out of bed day in, day out, and just carrying on.

And deadlifting 100kg? That’s pretty cool too. 😎