It’s been a long time since I squealed laughing the way I did at our Football 101 Girls Night Out on Thursday night at Children’s Health Andrews Insitute. I mean I knew we were going to have a great time, but I honestly didn’t anticipate we’d have as many volunteers to “take the field” as we did. I assumed all the ladies would enjoy the classroom portion with wisdom from Kelly, Laura, Angela, Landry, and Tony. But I thought they would mostly spectate while just a few of them ran plays out on the field. Not only did a huge majority of the ladies “take the field” to actually play (yes, even some in stilettos!).
Even the ones who didn’t want to play got involved by wildly cheering the participants on.
We divided into teams to run plays. But we also did ball-passing relays. We tried our hand at long passes to land the football in trash cans. Landry and Tony kept us on our toes. We practiced passing and running to receive. I even saw a couple of full-on friendly tackles that made me snort-laugh. I couldn’t take pictures fast enough.
But I’m so glad someone made us pose for this one.
I love it because while it’s not the entire team, it’s a good representation of the HeartStories team who gives it all they’ve got to put on our events every month. I love it because it’s representative of a huddle and we talked a lot about huddles Thursday night. We told stories in pairs about a time a huddle saved our lives. It was a really special moment of remembering out loud how it feels when people who are 100% on your team gather around you to support you. They have skin in the game, and they have your back.
This “huddle”, along with those not pictured, saves my life on a monthly basis.
They show up behind the scenes in ways that are unreasonable. They give more than they have to. They are dedicated to the work we’re doing in the world, beyond anything that makes logical sense. They’re all in. And it’s this huddle of women who make HeartStories touchdowns possible.
Who’s in your huddle?
It’s a question worth thinking about.
If you don’t instantly know the answer, it’s a question worth doing something about.
Life is too hard to go it alone. It’s also too much fun to miss the squealing and snort-laughing that is possible in huddles of women who support you. But huddles don’t happen on accident. They require you to decide it’s worth it to join one. Sometimes you have to create one of your own. They require committing to showing up to consistent practices, time and time again. They require working through the tough times with unwavering commitment. But when it’s time for a touchdown, you need to look around and see your huddle!
Huddles don’t come easy, but they’re worth it.
Join one, create one, or show up for yours today.
Who’s in your huddle?
to more love,
Crystal
p.s. Huddles don’t come easy, but our #1 goal is to make it easy for you to huddle once a month with our done-for-you Girls Night Out. All you have to do is put it on your team calendar and show up, the first Thursday of each month. This next one (Coco Vida GNO) is EPIC! Meet your huddle there, on October 3rd! (It’s a Dia de Los Muertos Celebration of Life & Chocolate!)
