Are You Taking Home Gold or Are You Reevaluating Life?

Song Of The Week

This week’s musical gem is a quirky yet relatable anthem from the indie-pop sensation, girl in red. Titled "bad idea!", this infectious track dances along the fine line between desire and regret—a tug-of-war that anyone who's ever second-guessed their romantic decisions can appreciate.

From the very first note, you're swept into an upbeat whirlwind of catchy hooks and confessional lyrics that scream, "What was I thinking?" girl in red captures that messy feeling of going headfirst into something that’s clearly not meant to be, wrapped in bubbly synths and thumping beats. It’s like being stuck in a daydream where your heart and brain are engaged in a passionate debate, and spoiler alert: your heart is winning.

Lyrically, girl in red doesn't shy away from the self-sabotage we often find ourselves indulging in. With lines that resonate like the echo of bad decisions past, she invites the listener to revel in the

Gold, Silver, Bronze

The 2024 Paris Olympics is definitely one to remember in every way possible. There were breakthroughs, new rules, events I didn’t even know were part of the games, and many losses. One of my favorite events is gymnastics. Call me basic or cliché, but ever since I was little, I swore I would land a backflip. News flash: I haven’t, and I’m not gonna! Now that I’m older and wiser, understand the world a bit better, I take care of myself. There’s no way I’m doing any kind of flipping or jumping that could break a bone—or, even worse, my spine. Yet, just this past week, we saw America win gold because of the amazing talent of the U.S. Gymnastics team.

Do you have what it takes?

When I watch the Olympics and see the extreme capabilities of the human body and mind, it puts into perspective just how far the human capacity for endurance can go. Every single athlete has trained for many, many years for their moment at the Olympics—a grueling four-year process that they sign up for. Imagine pushing your body to its absolute limits in training and then doing it in front of the world. Every single person in your country is counting on you! You want gold, your friends and family want you to get gold, your country wants to take gold. I mean, that pressure has got to make it the toughest job ever. So, to witness them achieve it, to see that it’s possible, is truly mind-blowing.

It gets me fired up—like a fire under my ass—and I just want to make a big impact on this world. I want to be memorable; I want to create an everlasting effect on the planet. I want to be so great at something that I win medal after medal. And then I remember the other half—the half that doesn’t win anything. Even though they put in the same effort, time, and practice as the others, they don’t win anything. The devastation alone could send me spiraling, let alone facing the results afterward; my mentality is too weak to handle such big feelings.

I hate it when I fail at things. Something in my subconscious gets alerted and activates a fight-or-flight response— I choose flight. I leave it and never want to revisit it again. I don’t pick activities lightly; I like to believe I’m a logical person. So, when I pick up new things, I assume I’ll magically be good at them. When it turns out that I’m not, or when it gets hard, I’m the first one out the door. Recognizing that I often choose flight has been a hard pill to swallow because I want to fight. I want to be like the athletes I admire. Their journey, too, is paved with countless falls, setbacks, and moments of doubt. What separates them is their decision to fight through the pain, fear, and uncertainty—and just believe. While I know I’m not training for the Olympics, life hands out plenty of flips and jumps at me that I need to seize.

Failed

Looking at Simone Biles and then at myself is a stark difference, and yes, I know it’s also unrealistic and probably silly. I’m not talking about her career or her physicality, but the stark differences in how we respond to the small things in life. You can tell that she’s the type of person to fall eight times and get back up nine. I fall down once, and I move on to something new.

The rough journey is what makes life so sweet. And maybe I’ve been avoiding the falls because I don’t want to be disappointed with the results. I know these things shape us and force us to grow into a new person. Running away is easier than changing. I’ve gotten comfortable with where I am, and that scares me. I don’t want to stay this way forever. This mental battle is something I wake up with, eat with, shower with, and finally sleep with. This overwhelming fear, combined with my tendency to flee, makes my brain go numb. And it’s time I put it to rest.

Maybe in this lifetime I won’t land a backflip, but I can start by facing the smaller things that scare me, and within those battles, I can find my own version of gold. The countless falls are not failures until you let them be. Rather, they are a part of the road that forges resilience and grit. Instead of focusing on the big wins, I need to focus on refusing to stay down. And who knows? Maybe one day I’ll find myself reaching for something greater than I ever imagined, and I can’t wait to see the view from the top.

It was a Bad Idea...

Which leads me to this week’s song, "Bad Idea!" by Girl in Red, which perfectly captures the rush of making impulsive decisions. The unapologetic lyrics remind me that it’s human nature to make choices that feel good in the moment, only to later realize they were the opposite. Even when our desires turn out to be a bad idea, it’s hard to say no to ourselves. It's that scientific data about dopamine allows our brain to only crave dopamine responses. So, as I work on choosing fight over flight, I’ll be keeping this song in my rotation to help push through the hard days.

Enjoy This Journey With Me

° 𐐪𐑂 ♡ 𐐪𐑂 ₒ 𐐪𐑂 ♡ 𐐪𐑂 °

Enjoy This Journey With Me ° 𐐪𐑂 ♡ 𐐪𐑂 ₒ 𐐪𐑂 ♡ 𐐪𐑂 °

This isn’t the end—just a bookmark in the conversation. Stories don’t really close; they unfold, shift, and find new voices. If this one stirred something in you, let it breathe. Leave a thought, challenge an idea, or carry it forward in your own way. And if you ever feel like wandering through more unfinished thoughts, you know where to find me. Let’s keep the conversation alive. ~XOXO