Why you should attend a WWE event even when you think you don’t want to (but we know you secretly do)

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26 Mar

We’ve all had moments when there’s something we would like to do or try but we let the questions roll in. What if I don’t know anyone, what if they don’t like me, what if I can’t do it, what if it’s not fun, what if……

I’m here to tell you why you should ignore that little voice inside your head that’s telling you to stay home and instead start listening to the one that’s telling you to go.

At Women Who Explore events, the ambassadors are committed to ensuring that everyone feels welcome and part of the group, but the other thing I’ve noticed is all the attendees are also committed to that as well. Many of them have also struggled with the same voices in their head before attending their first (or fifth or tenth…) event.

My personal journey with WWE began when I was at a crossroads in my life. I had just lost my job of 12 years that I loved and I wasn’t sure what I wanted to do next. The only thing I did know was that I wanted change. Change from doing the same things over and over. Change from sitting on the couch wishing I had the energy to go outside and explore. I decided to finish my university degree and I was working on a project about motivation for a class. I had to do a brainstorming session on ways to overcome the obstacles that were standing in my path. One thing I came up with was “if you want to be more active, surround yourself with active people”. I finished the assignment and even got an A+ and was very pleased with myself. I then moved on to the next thing. Life continued and nothing changed. A couple of weeks later I was still feeling unsettled and lacking energy and I thought to myself “what if I actually try some of the things I wrote down for the assignment?”. I looked online and joined the Vancouver WWE group as well as a few other local groups and was again very pleased with myself. Then I moved on to the next thing and life continued and nothing changed. Notice a pattern here?! Joining the different groups was a good first step but I was still afraid to take part in any event.

I should mention here that I am an extremely outgoing person and I’m not shy around new people. I grew up in the military where we moved every 5 years or so and making new friends on the first day of school or during the summer was kind of my jam. So why was I afraid to join? For me it was because I questioned my fitness level vs other people’s. What if I couldn’t keep up? What if I slowed the group down? What if they wished I wasn’t there? I knew that eventually seeing all the beautiful outdoors and fun stuff they were doing would be enough for me to make the leap and join but I hadn’t quite gotten there yet. Then WWE put out a call for event ambassadors in the Vancouver group and I knew this was my moment. It would force me outside of my comfort zone and make me DO ALL THE THINGS. I could have some control over the situation so I knew I wouldn’t plan something I couldn’t do but more importantly I could encourage and empower others who were in the same boat as me. I try and make it clear that people of all shapes and sizes are welcome to join in and I like to vary my events between active and social so there’s something for everyone and lots of time for people to get to know each other.

When women get together in the spirit of friendship and solidarity beautiful things can happen. At one event we had a minor medical incident and immediately the rest of the women jumped in to make sure the person was taken care of and was ok and it was a defining moment for me as an ambassador. I may be the one leading the event but I’m certainly not in it alone. I’m merely the facilitator, the rest of it happens organically. Most of us are looking for connections and just need the opportunities to find it. Gathering together is so good for our mental health, and overall wellbeing and we become greater than the sum of our parts. Nothing makes me happier than seeing people at the events exchange contact info and hearing them share their stories.

If you are still on the fence about joining an event, I challenge you to ask yourself a different “what if” question. “What if you just pushed aside those voices and came to an event, what wonderful things could be waiting for you on the other side?”

Join the vancouver group!