I’m out of my league.
I don’t belong in this club. I’m out of my league. This place is too good for me, and I just can’t fake it enough to fit in here. The clothes are all so expensive, the people are all so beautiful, and they’re wearing such fancy things how am I even supposed to get a drink? It’s like everyone knows each other, but no one knows me!
I’m just not in the right place. I don’t belong here.
This is going to be a long story, but it’s worth telling if you’re looking for an example of how your mindset can change everything – even when things are set up against you from the beginning.
The first club I ever belonged to was my high school swim team. It looked like this: we all had matching uniforms and were on a level playing field because everyone knew that what really mattered was whether or not we swam fast enough to make our relay teams win games; there wasn’t any pressure around who could afford costumes or where you got shoes from (or how many times they fell apart), so no one felt overwhelmed by their competitors; we were all friends and there was a sense of camaraderie that I had never experienced before.
I loved the swim team!
It’s hard to explain, but it felt like my place in life – where I belonged. These people who didn’t know me from Adam became some of my best memories for years after graduation. They knew what mattered about me because they saw how committed I was as an athlete; when school got hectic or tests got tough, swimming gave me perspective on everything else going on around me and made things seem less important somehow.
The fact that our coach would show up at any hour with whatever you needed is just icing on the cake not only did they teach us to be better swimmers, they taught us that kindness, empathy and hard work are what matter most in life. I loved the swim team! It’s hard to explain, but it felt like my place in life – where I belonged. These people who didn’t know me from Adam became some of my best memories for years after graduation.
They knew what mattered about me because they saw how committed I was as an athlete; when school got hectic or tests got tough, swimming gave me perspective on everything else going on around me and made things seem less important somehow. The fact that our coach would show up at any hour with whatever you needed is just icing on the cake – not only did they teach us to be better swimmers, they taught us that kindness, empathy etc.