Paula Johnson

Transcript

Paula Johnson, you're a lump of lard and you're never going to amount to anything. Can you imagine? Those are the words of my fizzed teacher and I am 14 years old already filled with insecurities and self-doubt. I hated my body. She picked on me before, but this time was particularly painful because I had this dream that I was going to go to the Olympics one day. And I didn't know what in because I wasn't any good at anything. But that didn't matter because at that moment, all of my dreams were just crushed.

I look around and all my classmates are laughing at me. I'm so humiliated. I'm so embarrassed. I just want to fade into the shadows of the gymnasium. I wish I wish I'd never been born. That childhood story created the trajectory for my life going forward. A life that could have been so different. Those feelings of humiliation haunted me for a long time. Fast forward 20 years. I'm sitting at my desk working as a nurse in a sports injury clinic and I just found out my boyfriend was cheating on me.

This was in line with my narrative of low selfworth and it just confirmed to me that I was never going to be enough. I glanced down at myself. I'm 250 pounds. I'm unhappy. I'm unhealthy and this is not the way I want my life to be. Something has to change. At that moment, a woman walks into the clinic. She's clutching her knee. She says she's doing a triathlon in 7 weeks time and she needs to see the doctor. As she waited, I asked, "What's a triathlon?"

She said, "It's a 750 me swim, a 30 km bike, and a 7 km run." Suddenly, I felt a flicker of hope ignite. I hadn't swam or run for many years, but I could do that. So, that night, I went for my first swim, and I almost drowned. The lifeguard saved me. He had me on recovery position on the pool deck, but I did not give up. And the next night, I went for my first run. And I ran like the wind for about half a block, collapsed and crawled home.

But I persevered. And seven weeks later, I did that triathlon. But I remember during the race hearing the voice of that fizzed teacher echoing around my head and I said no to the the cruel names that she called me. And I said no to the labels that she'd imposed on me. And I finished that race. And I wasn't last. I was nowhere near first. But that day I won because for the first time that I could remember I believed in myself.

Triathlon became my life's passion. I got faster. I got stronger. I started training for Iron Man. And Iron Man is a 4 km swim, 180 km bike ride, and then a 42 km run. I was training for my fourth Iron Man. I was in the best shape of my life until suddenly one day I got this searing shooting pain right between my eyes. I was rushed to the hospital where I'd be diagnosed with a very rare brain tumor and it was hemorrhaging and it caused a myriad of other health problems and I remember my brain surgeon telling me that I might not be able to race again.

This was not an option. I used my power of no to refuse to give up during my treatments and surgeries, to refuse to give in to the idea of never doing what I love doing. And soon enough, I was back at it. And well, I never did make it to the Olympics. But I wish you could have seen me when I crossed the Iron Man World Championships finish line, arms up in the air, feet six feet off the ground. I've never been so proud.

It was a dream that I couldn't have even imagined. So to all of you, if you've been told no, get rid of the naysayers. Surround yourself with people who will support you and encourage you and cheer for you. Use your power of no to refuse the labels that people have imposed on you and the limits that people have imposed on you. Believe in yourself and you too can make your dreams become a reality. Thank you.

Transcript generated from the recording and lightly cleaned. Some names and wording may differ from the spoken speech.