I've always been someone who joyously makes plans to do things without considering how I might feel on that future day or if I even feel like doing whatever it is I agreed to. This has caused LOTS of anxious days leading up to situations and sometimes me backing out of plans which always makes me feel horrible because I am a people pleaser (I'm working on changing that, but it's still me lol).
Now that content creation is my full-time job, I'm working more hours than I ever have before, which says a lot because I used to work crazy hours including double shifts. If you're wondering what on earth would take so much time if all I'm doing is posting silly videos, I can do a deep dive in a future post, but now I'm off track already. FOCUS, ERIN! My point in saying this is that I've had to be very careful about what I say yes to. I'm getting better at saying no if I'm feeling overwhelmed...but what did I do when the Lehigh Valley Iron Pigs baseball team reached out to ask if I'd come to the game and take part in the Pork Run (a short sprint across the field with a bunch of pork mascots)? I said yes. In fact, I was so confident in my yes and genuinely excited to go to a baseball game even though I couldn't eat any of the food, but that's also for a future post. When it came time to go to the game, however, my excitement turned into anxiety and dread. It wasn't because I wasn't appreciative of the offer or fun opportunity. Instead, I was feeling a bit under the weather, overwhelmed, and imposter syndrome was creeping in. I couldn't have anticipated these feelings when I made the plans, because I was feeling great at the time.
If I learned anything from doing my Uncomfy Challenge videos, it's that I should force myself to go into these situations (even though they seem overwhelming and filled with lots of unknowns), because I always come out of them having learned something new (usually about myself) and I usually end up having a ton of fun. So in I went to the ballpark followed by Dan and my sister, to meet my Iron Pigs contact, Morgan. She ended up making me feel totally at ease and even let us onto the field before the game started so I could interact with the mascots and touch the grass. At this point I learned that people can be so frickin' kind and I really want to be a mascot because I think I have natural mascot ability. Morgan then showed us to our seats so we could enjoy some of the game before my big moment. Did I mention I brought a pizza costume to wear for the race?
All of the good pork costumes were taken, but pepperoni is made with pork so it's the best I could do.
I spent a lot of the time trying to figure out why everyone was clapping and what all the numbers meant on the scoreboard which was quite meditative. I guess anything can be meditative when your kids aren't around. I was also kept busy watching out for foul balls, because my head is a strong magnet to baseballs. I've gotten hit so many times over the years and one time a ball landed inches from my feet when I was on a trail NEAR a baseball field.
When the time came to head down to get ready with the other pork runners (bacon, ham bone, hot dog, etc), I was feeling nervous because I had no idea any of the details about anything that was about to happen. How fast do we run? Where do I go? How do we get there? Who are the people in the costumes? Do they like me? Is there water available? Where's the bathroom? Where will Dan be filming? This is how I am before anything I throw myself into.
After everyone geared up in their huge costumes, and I slipped on my pepperoni pizza it was time to wait for our cue. For a solid two minutes, I thought I was hallucinating because I was surrounded by nothing but huge varieties of pork and I'm on a 30-day cleanse without pork on the menu. I was dreaming of bacon and there's a huge slice of bacon right there next to a hot dog. I couldn't see anything else. Before I knew it, the gate was opened and we were off!
I stayed close to ham bone because he seemed like he knew where he was going and this wasn't his first rodeo. About halfway through the race, Irish step dancers started doing their thing right where we were running, so I stopped for a quick jig but kept on running when I noticed the hot dog sprinted ahead of us while we got distracted by the dancers. I almost caught up at the end, but came in a close second. At that point, I was relieved it was over and that I didn't mess anything up, but I also realized I was having fun! I enjoyed the silliness of it all and how involved the crowd got about who they wanted to win.
I don't think that was my last Iron Pigs game. I will be back. And I will do a food tour.
