I have always recognized, tried to help and been there for the underdog. What is an Underdog?
Usually when someone thinks of an Underdog they think of someone, a team, a side or a contestant that is expected to lose a contest or struggle often in sports, politics or some other type of competition. The one that is at a disadvantage, team linebackers and handicappers believed to lose the game. An underdog could also be a less powerful person or thing that struggles against a more powerful person or thing.
Being an underdog has often even been used to boost sales. In 1962 an advertising executive for Avis Car Rental, Paula Green used a sales tactic what is now known as an underdog brand
biography – a rhetorical device used by companies “that chronicles the brand’s origins, life experiences, and evolution over time in a selectively constructed story," often of “humble beginnings, hopes and dreams, and noble strategies against adversaries.” Here is the slogan they used,
Do you ever feel like a "small fry?" I often have in my life. Early on I felt like everyone was always ahead of me. I had to work very hard to just catch up and be in alignment with others. Like if I didn't, I would be missing out or left behind. I have diligently and ongoingly taken action steps to keep on keepin' on and strive to get ahead. My husband, Tommy and I recently had a conversation about this while we were riding in the car together one day. He made a good point stating,"Well, you were naturally behind when you started school with your birthday being at the end of July. When I started school I was ahead of you by nine months since my birthday is at the end of October. I and others like me with later birthdays started school almost a whole year ahead and of greater development than those with summer and early fall birthdays. I have seen this as not really being fair from the start. It is harder for those that are in this position." Well, that made sense to me and I agreed. Our discussion then went to the fact that in addition to my summer birthday, I was born premature at seven and a half months weighing 1.5 pounds and lungs undeveloped. These aspects along with being vertically challenged 5'2" and small also contribute to my being and feeling like an underdog. I have often told myself, "Well, I might be tiny, but I am mighty!" LOL :) Over the years I have learned to embrace being an underdog and realized that actually being the underdog does have a lot of advantages. One advantage to being the underdog is that there is an urge or drive to put forth more effort on a job, task or whatever I am doing. This is turned into a reality by me working my tail off for my goals. It shows a precedence for how the underdog perseveres in the face of obstacles and can come out on top. This does not mean that there are no obstacles of doubt internally, as I constantly have to overcome my own fears and doubts especially now even more due to the multiple sclerosis and degenerative disc disease with chronic back pain. Neither fears nor doubts are easy to hurdle. It doesn’t matter if nobody believes in me because my will to succeed and faith in GOD is all I need. Although, God does call me to be disciplined in my thoughts and actions. Discipline is not a bad thing. Discipline is part of an enjoyable life. Meditation teacher Stephan Bodian defines discipline as, "the capacity to do something again and again." What is really worth repeating? Think about it for a moment....certainly it is those things that bring us joy, peace, love, and clarity. I am thankful for the discipline in my life as its benefits far out weigh its challenges. I think about what I want to experience and act upon this with the choices that I make each day in trying to accomplish the goals that have been set before me or goals that I have set for myself. Go ahead, you can do this, too.
"Put these things into practice, devote yourself to them so that all may see your progress." 1 Timothy 4:15 Some days my life runs smoother like a gentle flowing river and others are rough like the unpredictable turbulence of white-water rapids. Regardless of my outer or inner circumstances I am called to navigate the waves that come with grace and ease. Living with this awareness makes me ride the waves better. I remember that I am never powerless or alone because God is always present with me and guiding me. I turn to this source of strength daily; an ongoing constant connection relationship of love, prayer, meditation and guidance. My breath is the key that links me to my creator. Slowly breathing and following my breath opens me to a relaxed and serene difference that is a stabilizer in my life. Tranquility and peace just builds inside me and settles throughout my mind, body and spirit. This in turn gifts me with an ever present love, a profound peace which therefore grants me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, the courage to change the things I can and the wisdom to know the difference.
One of my favorite examples of an underdog working through the troubled waters is Rocky Balboa (Sylvester Stallone) in the movie Rocky III. One thing that drew people in was the fact that even though Rocky Balboa was not real, what he stood for and symbolized was definitely real. This movie gives us a vivid symbolic figure that can portray the idea that hope is not dead and that people can surpass expectations when they are not really expected to or suppose to. To this day, when this underdog needs a push, a lift-me-up experience, I play the song Eye of the Tiger as loud as I can and sing, punch and dance along. Here is the youtube video: http://youtu.be/VgSMxY6asoE Enjoy!
There are many real life examples that people have lived through and ended up on top. Every day there are stories that give us a symbol to look up to while we are trying to win our own personal battles, which are very motivating adding fuel to the fire of perseverance and determination.
Love,
Lisa
"WE ARE NUMBER TWO BUT WE TRY HARDER !"
So why do some people root for the underdog? According to researchers, it is because we identify with them due to the underdog aspects of our own lives. Some of us have felt at a disadvantage at some point in our own lives. These same people love to support the underdog because of having been in their place before some time in the past. Whether that be the role of being the little brother/sister, last picked on the softball team, starting a new job, whatever it is many of us have been in a role in our life where we felt like the underdog. Because of that we can easily empathize with them and want to help them achieve success. By helping we can vicariously live through them and feel like their win is also our win. This naturally draws us into the underdog's position. We share their passion and determination to keep trying to succeed when it seems like the odds are against them.
Do you ever feel like a "small fry?" I often have in my life. Early on I felt like everyone was always ahead of me. I had to work very hard to just catch up and be in alignment with others. Like if I didn't, I would be missing out or left behind. I have diligently and ongoingly taken action steps to keep on keepin' on and strive to get ahead. My husband, Tommy and I recently had a conversation about this while we were riding in the car together one day. He made a good point stating,"Well, you were naturally behind when you started school with your birthday being at the end of July. When I started school I was ahead of you by nine months since my birthday is at the end of October. I and others like me with later birthdays started school almost a whole year ahead and of greater development than those with summer and early fall birthdays. I have seen this as not really being fair from the start. It is harder for those that are in this position." Well, that made sense to me and I agreed. Our discussion then went to the fact that in addition to my summer birthday, I was born premature at seven and a half months weighing 1.5 pounds and lungs undeveloped. These aspects along with being vertically challenged 5'2" and small also contribute to my being and feeling like an underdog. I have often told myself, "Well, I might be tiny, but I am mighty!" LOL :) Over the years I have learned to embrace being an underdog and realized that actually being the underdog does have a lot of advantages. One advantage to being the underdog is that there is an urge or drive to put forth more effort on a job, task or whatever I am doing. This is turned into a reality by me working my tail off for my goals. It shows a precedence for how the underdog perseveres in the face of obstacles and can come out on top. This does not mean that there are no obstacles of doubt internally, as I constantly have to overcome my own fears and doubts especially now even more due to the multiple sclerosis and degenerative disc disease with chronic back pain. Neither fears nor doubts are easy to hurdle. It doesn’t matter if nobody believes in me because my will to succeed and faith in GOD is all I need. Although, God does call me to be disciplined in my thoughts and actions. Discipline is not a bad thing. Discipline is part of an enjoyable life. Meditation teacher Stephan Bodian defines discipline as, "the capacity to do something again and again." What is really worth repeating? Think about it for a moment....certainly it is those things that bring us joy, peace, love, and clarity. I am thankful for the discipline in my life as its benefits far out weigh its challenges. I think about what I want to experience and act upon this with the choices that I make each day in trying to accomplish the goals that have been set before me or goals that I have set for myself. Go ahead, you can do this, too.
"Put these things into practice, devote yourself to them so that all may see your progress." 1 Timothy 4:15 Some days my life runs smoother like a gentle flowing river and others are rough like the unpredictable turbulence of white-water rapids. Regardless of my outer or inner circumstances I am called to navigate the waves that come with grace and ease. Living with this awareness makes me ride the waves better. I remember that I am never powerless or alone because God is always present with me and guiding me. I turn to this source of strength daily; an ongoing constant connection relationship of love, prayer, meditation and guidance. My breath is the key that links me to my creator. Slowly breathing and following my breath opens me to a relaxed and serene difference that is a stabilizer in my life. Tranquility and peace just builds inside me and settles throughout my mind, body and spirit. This in turn gifts me with an ever present love, a profound peace which therefore grants me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, the courage to change the things I can and the wisdom to know the difference.
One of my favorite examples of an underdog working through the troubled waters is Rocky Balboa (Sylvester Stallone) in the movie Rocky III. One thing that drew people in was the fact that even though Rocky Balboa was not real, what he stood for and symbolized was definitely real. This movie gives us a vivid symbolic figure that can portray the idea that hope is not dead and that people can surpass expectations when they are not really expected to or suppose to. To this day, when this underdog needs a push, a lift-me-up experience, I play the song Eye of the Tiger as loud as I can and sing, punch and dance along. Here is the youtube video: http://youtu.be/VgSMxY6asoE Enjoy!
There are many real life examples that people have lived through and ended up on top. Every day there are stories that give us a symbol to look up to while we are trying to win our own personal battles, which are very motivating adding fuel to the fire of perseverance and determination.
Love,
Lisa
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