"A" Game

You can live anywhere in the world…you can travel to destinations unknown…but…once a cheerleader, always a cheerleader. It can’t be helped…optimism manifests itself at a cellular level.  Pom Poms can be rotting, megaphone crushed, uniforms eaten by moths…but the eternal need to not let the spirit stick touch the ground…remains.

Playing the cheerleader card has an expiration date.  “RAH, RAH, RAH…ALWAYS WEAR A BRA!” Usually…it’s somewhere in the early 30’s…when you still look great…but you have deterrents to the fantasy.  Children.  A Husband.  Stretch Marks. Being way past the cheerleader prime…Miss Cherry sits back and watches the youngsters drop that fantasy bomb on male management all over the corporate world.  It’s the ex-college cheerleader meets Fortune 500 male executive syndrome…and it works.

“Why, when I was a cheerleader back at Fantasy U, I wore this skirt.  I measured it…it is only 12 inches long, and 12 inches wide.  Can you believe that?  Look at it…”

(Executive Male…staring at scrap of material with zipper…shocked silence and glazed over look)

“I used to have to shop in the little girls department for my clothes.  Well, that is…until I got my breasts done.  I’m thinking about getting them bigger.  What do you think? Do you think they need to be bigger? Do you think I would look silly with bigger breasts?”

(Continued shock and glaze, coupled with blood pressure climbing…silent and sweating)

“Now, where were we…Oh, that’s right…do you think you could get me a contract with your company, so I can do business with you? “

No hesitation…“Yes.”

And that is how it is done. It’s like the NFL draft, but for corporate cheerleaders.  Corporations all over the U.S.  see a tiny blonde/brunette/redhead, a sprinkle of freckles across her nose, sexy ex-college cheerleader walk through the door and it’s an immediate hire. At least…it is in the world of corporate sales.  Miss Cherry doesn’t have a problem with it…it’s the way things roll in the world.  But, she will be the first responsible middle-aged ex-cheerleader to sit one of the girlies down and say…

“Listen, sweetheart.  I get cha’.  But, I want you to think past the point that every hot blooded Male in America is fascinated with your looks and Pom Poms.  Think on down the road.  First…you are a smart little cookie.  So smart, actually, that I am going to give you a little piece of advice that I’m hoping you will give serious consideration…

Looks can only take you so far. Talent can only take you so far. Smarts can only take you so far. But, if you combine them together…the world is your oyster. Don’t be one of those girls who get by on a cheerleading skirt and her amazing looks. Be the one in a million that doesn’t. You are better than the stereotype. You are better than the fantasy of corporate America….use your power for good…and not evil.

Now, I’ll be over here. If you want some mentoring, some guidance, some training to take yourself to the next level…just let me know.”

It’s called…the “A” Game.  The time in your life that you realize that you have reached the pinnacle of where you can't get by - by just waking up each morning…and you shoot it up to the next level.  We all know when we are doing it…giving less than an “A”…and we know what it will take.

Miss Cherry had been working at less than an “A” for several years. And, because of this, had brought less than an “A” to herself, her children, her career, her God, and her community.

“RAH, RAH, REE…CELLULITE IS NOT MEANT TO BE!!!!”  There is definitely something in the water.  Or more specifically, everyone drinks the Kool-Aid… a big pitcher of iced, cold Kool-Aid, leaving a funky purple moustache above your lip that says…”Yeah, I did it.  I wore short skirts that barely covered my hoo-hahh.  I was praised for yelling, jumping, being all bouncy. I’d like to say that it was some goofy shitake…but… really…it was a total and complete blast.”  Miss Cherry had “spirit”. But, as Miss Cherry found herself stepping into the middle aged zone, wrapped in an existentialist mental superhero cloak, after a long period of what could only be deemed…a time of tempering…her proving ground… the reality of the situation hit her straight on.  Her essence had suffered and she wasn’t quite sure if she still had “spirit”.  Now, for a “has been”  cheerleader, this is akin to a singer losing their voice…an artist losing their sight…a couch potato losing the remote…ummmm…you…losing something that you consider to be the core of your personality…your essence. 

Sunny, Cherry’s hippie-chick/granola friend, believed that Cherry needed yoga and a twenty-one day cleanse…to clean out all toxins and “bad energy”.  She was probably right…but Cherry knew that it went deeper than toxins and bad energy. It had translated into the quality of her life. Bottom line…Cherry wasn’t on her “A” game.

Everyone has an “A” game… you are getting there, already there, nowhere close, or sustaining.  Cherry can tell you the exact periods in her life when she was living life well within her “A” game.  She can tell you when she slipped down to a high “B”.  Then, there were the periods of pulling a strong “C-“.  It’s one of those things that you just know. You know exactly what energy, intelligence, strength, weakness, integrity, and character…essence… you are bringing to your life.  Miss Cherry knew her “A” game…and she was working like Hell to get it back. 

Where did Miss Cherry get her ideas about being on her “A” game? Why, of course, her Daddy. It started when Cherry went to her Daddy and talked him about her husband treating her like he was doing her a big favor just by being married to her.

“Cherry, you aren’t on your “A” game. If you were on your “A” game, you would have never even looked at him, much less…married him. He isn’t good enough to even bend down and kiss your pedicure. You are a beautiful woman, who let this situation depress you. Do you know what you need to do?”

“No.”

“Sweetheart, I want you to start running. Get out there and run. When you run, you are thin, strong and full of confidence. When you get on your “A” game, you are going to set some new policy. Get on your “A” game, and then decide what you want to do. There isn’t one man alive that can treat you less than the best, when you are on your game. Turn this around. It’s all in your power.”

“When I run, I feel like a million bucks.”

“Then, run, Sweetheart. Cherry, let’s talk about your friends. You have accumulated some friends that I think are not of your caliber. Clear them out. You are on a different level. Don’t let anyone pull you down. You are above it.”

“Got it.”

“Your Mother and I don’t really worry about you, Cherry. You are very strong and always land on your feet. We just want our daughter back. So, how is your treadmill? Do you need a treadmill?”

…and that was the conversation that reset Cherry’s mental and physical button. Make no mistake; it’s hard getting to your “A” game. But, once you get there…it’s important that you maintain the highest standards for yourself. Keep the “spirit”.

Did you hear what happened to the cheerleaders that dropped the spirit stick? Their hair all fell out, their periods lasted forever, their team lost every game, they got zits, and cellulite started covering them from their ears down to their toes.  No kidding. It’s Cheerleading Camp Urban Legend. Really.

Don’t drop your stick!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

 

(go vikings....!)