Affirmations – The wonder pill

Come on!! You can do this. ‘The last 20 meters Shubha, the Gold is ours’. These words echoed in Shubha’s ears and she almost collapsed on the track owing to fatigue. The stadium reverberated with the loud cheer from every student of the St John School, who had left their seats in the shade and had lined the track for the finals of the 100-meter Senior Girls final at the All India Schools Sports Meet. Shubha could barely stand, leave alone run to win the race but the loud cheering and constant chants ‘ Shubha, the fighter, Shubha, the track queen’ gave her the inner strength to gather her last bit of energy, focus on the finish line and she ran as if it was the last race of her life. She chested the finish line and crashed to the ground. A loud cheer filled the stadium and Shubha could see her schoolmates running towards the finish line and then her eyes shut.

When she gained consciousness, she was surrounded by a nurse, her coach and some friends. She smiled faintly looking at their worried yet happy faces. Her coach Bishop Sir said, ‘Shubha, you are truly our PT Usha’. The friends chimed in ‘ Sir, she is a terror on the tracks’. Though completely sapped from being in action on the field all day, these affirmations worked a miracle on her and she sat up, ready to go much to the amazement of the nurse. Shubha had collapsed at the end of the 100 meters finals owing to exertion and dehydration. She was given oral rehydration and still seemed physically weak but she looked at her coach and asked if she had clinched the ‘Gold’ and on receiving a confirmatory smile, she was up on her feet for the victory ceremony. She thanked the nurse and with her friends in arms she followed her coach back to the stadium for the felicitation.

She received thunderous applause when she limped her way to the victory stand. She looked at her schoolmates waving and cheering for her and was so overwhelmed. She knew that it was this unconditional support and affirmation of her coach, teachers, friends, and school mates had given her the strength to pull off this feat despite her physical fatigue and weakness. The two days of the All India Schools Sports Meet played out in front of her eyes as boarded the victory stand to be awarded her Gold medal. On day one Shubha had barely managed to squeeze into the 100 meters finals owing to a late start in the heats and was very disheartened. She was so dejected that she did not even want to prepare for the finals the next day. The affirmations by Bishop Sir motivated her and she gave her best performance to bag the Gold in the Long jump and High jump her stronghold events on Day 2 taking St John’s medal tally to 15 golds trailing by one gold to be on the top.

The 100-meter race, the last track event would be the clincher and all hopes were vested in this event. St Theresa School was leading the medal’s tally and their sprinter Shweta was the favourite for the 100 meters sprint. Shubha was tired after the two events on Day 2 and was also nervous owing to her performance in the heats. She wanted to pull out of the event due to self-doubt, but her Principal, coach, friends, and schoolmates backed her and gave her reinforcement that she could take St John to the top with this race. These positive doses inspired her to give the race all that she had and with the strong support of the school, she had managed to clinch the 100 meters gold to take St John’s School to the top of the table.

As she was awarded the gold, Shubha waved and thanked everyone who had affirmed their belief in her talent and had nudged her all the way to victory. Her moist eyes and grateful heart added a vibrant glow to her otherwise tired face. It’s the repetition of affirmations that leads to belief. Once that belief becomes a deep conviction, things begin to happen.

Be the reason that someone smiles. Remember, ‘You have the power to create the life you desire. Reaffirm your faith in yourself and give those around you an affirmation that will nudge and inspire them to keep hustling.