Mallory Weggemann Quotes

My story was never about what happened to me; it was always about what I did with it.

I began to measure victories not by the outcome, but by the investment: Did I give everything I had that day to accomplish my best?

I now know that the only true failure is not allowing myself to dream in the first place.

Grief is funny that way; when it strikes the second time, it carries the scars that formed the first time, too- but it also reminds us that we have survived once before and we can again.

The moment I realized I held the key to my destiny, I truly became limitless.

There are two ways to view the future: What if? and Why not? Looking forward through a lens of What if? subconsciously places limits on our potential, anticipating failure rather than allowing ourselves to see the vastness of possibilities that lie before us. On the other hand, Why not? recognizes we have an inherent right to chase that dream, no matter the odds, and it roots our goals in a mindset where anything is possible.

I knew I had to do what needed to be done, and I simply had to hold on to the faith that it would work out in the end. In swimming, as in life, there are things that can pull us down, weights we may not even be aware of until we let go.

But just because I had come so far, it didn’t mean the healing process was over; in fact, I realized it would probably never end. It would just keep changing and adapting along with me, taking on deeper meaning with every new experience and every new season of my life.

Limitless by Mallory Weggemann (a Paralympic gold medalist). Her words resonate deeply and often occupy my thoughts. Mallory wisely says, “Life is about the long game, and what seems overwhelming in the moment could very well be pointing us toward something greater. It’s up to us to push past the noise of our present, past expectations placed upon us, and into

I was seeking balance- embrace the present while not getting lost in the uncertainty that lay ahead.

I was seeking balance- to embrace the present while not getting lost in the uncertainty that lay ahead.

I realized the importance of trusting myself to find a way to rise in any situation- to react with dignity, strength, and truth. It’s our responses, not our circumstances, that define us in the end. Our lives reflect the choices we make with the hand we are dealt, not the cards themselves. It’s up to each of us to decide whether to keep fighting and rise above all that seeks to keep us down or give up and accept the weights and challenges that constrain us. Whatever burdens you are carrying in your life, know that you inherently possess the power to rise above them. In the water, your body instinctively wants to find air. Lose the things that are keeping you below water and allow yourself to surface. Allow yourself the freedom of breathing again- that’s what keeps you alive. The weight of anger, resentment, and regret only weigh down the person still carrying them; in other words, holding on to resentment doesn’t hurt anyone but you. Let those burdens go and let your soul rise above.

This, I believe, is the heart of every person’s journey. We all have an inherent desire to be recognized and celebrated for everything we can do and everything we have accomplished instead of being characterized by what others may perceive as a loss. Our ability to succeed in this pursuit lies in the truth that we define our limitations; our limitations don’t define us unless we allow them to do so. When we are afraid of reliving a trauma, an embarrassment, or a hurt, we end up making decisions from a place of fear. We are afraid of coming in last, so we never even try... But the difference between first place and last is infinitely smaller than the difference between last place and never even having tried.

Success is looking back and knowing that you did everything in your power to navigate your days with integrity, courage, humility, and compassion- while simultaneously honoring your desires to be all that you dream possible.

How do we find the balance between stopping- stepping back to refocus so we don’t end up working against ourselves and our ultimate goals- and just plain quitting? We need to learn to embrace those moments of clarity when our body and mind tell us, “This is your best for right now,” instead of fighting against them.

There is just something more inspiring about fighting to the finish than sailing easily to gold... the persistent pursuit of excellence is infinitely more valuable than any kind of flash-in-the-pan success. Winning is something that happens in a moment, but grit is about the long haul. Resilience is not something you can hold- but when you have it, nothing can hold you back.

When we learn to celebrate the intangibles- the symbolic victories that stem from who we are instead of simply what we can do- we elevate persistence, discipline, tenacity, and grit. We become better people rather than just a name in a record book. Not every victory can be quantified. When we separate success from a specific outcome, we gain a new metric by which to evaluate our lives and find the meaning that comes in the journey.

...love doesn’t make exceptions; it is all-encompassing.

That’s the thing about love- it doesn’t seek to change you, and it isn’t predicated on what you can bring to the table... love becomes what it needs to be in the moment or the season, evolving and adapting, but never wavering.

Never had I understood more deeply the importance of writing my own ending rather than accepting the narrative of what my story was “supposed” to look like.

Hope allows us to know, deep down, that regardless of what our circumstances bring, we have the strength to carry on.

Your world may never return to what it was prior to your sudden moment of impact, and your life might be forever changed- but maybe, just maybe, it is this very hardship that will carry you forward beyond anything that you dared dream possible.

I knew that this season of heartache would pass, and that the pain I felt that day was building my strength for the next morning, when I would pull myself up, wipe my eyes, and keep pushing ahead. I also knew that this was not the last time I would have to face a sudden heart-wrenching change in direction. None of us can control what is going on in the world; all we can do is decide how to bring light to our corner of it.

Quick fixes and neat resolutions aren’t always realistic. Challenges may knock us flat again and again, odds may be stacked dizzyingly high against us, and the world can seem so wildly unfair that we are tempted to give up. But life is about the long game, and what seems overwhelming in the moment could very well be pointing us toward something greater. It’s up to us to push past the noise of the our present, past the expectations placed upon us, and into the boundless possibilities of our unwritten futures.

We have no way of knowing where the future will take us; but, as my mother reminded me, we just have to trust that there is something beautiful waiting for us if we can find the courage to move toward it.

It’s not about naive optimism; it’s about believing in the power of resilience- the combination of courage, passion, patience, and perseverance- to create something meaningful out of difficult circumstances.

I have shed the restrictions placed on me- by others as well as myself- and built a life rooted in possibility, potential, and promise. When I refused to accept limits to what I could do, I threw open the door to a life that’s bigger and fuller than I could ever have imagined.

When we remove every boundary that hems us in- physical, emotional, or societal- we become limitless. When we reject preconceived notions about what something “should” look like, we move ourselves toward the possible. The real secret to overcoming setbacks is developing the wisdom to know which goals are worth pursuing and which weights- expectations, limitations, and disappointments- we must let go in order to rise to the top.

Sometimes we feel so confined to a predetermined path that we become weighed down by the burden of expectation, or worse, are left with no expectation at all. Although it was hard for me to accept at first, I quickly came to realize that society’s complete dismissal of what I could do was a blessing rather than a curse, because it gave me the freedom to create my own future the way I saw it. Being limitless, to me, meant that instead of sinking to someone else’s ideas of who I should be, I had the strength to rise to my fullest potential.

Society is really good at projecting its own insecurities onto us- all of us. Anything that might be different from whatever we’ve collectively decided is “normal” becomes a prime target. Who hasn’t been told our dreams were too big or too out of the ordinary, or our voice was too loud or too quiet, or our vision of ourselves too much or too inaccurate to matter? Who hasn’t been made to feel unworthy or ashamed for wanting to live our truths?

Even something you may think you are “over” is still a part of who you are; it still leaves its mark on your story and your heart. There’s no such thing as leaving the past totally behind; life has a way of circling around, of doubling back, of taking unexpected detours to areas way off the map. True, the shortest line between two points is the most direct one, but that doesn’t necessarily mean it’s always the best.

But we always have a choice: Do we focus on the pain, or do we choose to see the love that surrounds us? We can decide not just how we move forward, but the way we perceive the world. We can choose to see heartbreak, loss, and hopelessness, or we can choose to see the beauty and believe that we are the best, we can make a difference, and we can change the world.

That is the challenge we all face, no matter what our obstacles or disabilities. Whether they are physical, emotional, mental, financial, social, or a trauma from our past- the type of disability doesn’t matter- they are all rooted in the same thing: belief that we are limited or hampered in our capacity to thrive. And as long as we let fear drive our actions, those limitations are true. By allowing fear to call the shots in our lives, we validate every doubt, every insecurity, and everything that might hem us in or hold us back. But the moment we allow ourselves to feel hope- the moment we commit to following through instead of just talking about it, the moment we face our fears head-on and refuse to grant them any more power- is the moment we can change everything about our lives.

I was more than other people’s assessments of my worth or my abilities or my aspirations. It wasn’t outrageous to believe I deserved love and respect. It wasn’t a reach to think that I could have a fulfilling life. My hopes and dreams were no less valid than anyone else’s. Of course, that didn’t mean I was guaranteed success- no one is- but it did mean that I owed it to myself to try. What is brokenness anyway, except someone else projecting their own insecurities onto what they imagine your worth to be?

I acknowledged the power of healing to restore my heart so that I could grow into the fullness of who I had become, instead of staying tethered to ideas of who I used to be.

I believed my pain had uniquely positioned me to do something greater than I would have ever dreamed had my path simply looked “normal.” I accepted the idea that I had to have my world changed before I could hope to change the world in return. I just didn’t know what that eventual world-transformation would look like. I chose to trust that there was a greater reason for my pain.

We all must make a similar pivot from “I” to “we” if we want any hope of recovering from setbacks, disappointments, and trauma. I had to be willing to look beyond my personal pride in tackling every obstacle that came my way and understand that some challenges are just too big to take on alone. Accepting help does not make you a burden; it makes you part of a village, a web, a network, a family of people whose lives are interconnected, come good or bad. There are going to be moments and circumstances that disrupt your life in ways you could have never imagined, but you can’t shut yourself off from the rest of the world. Self-reliance is a beautiful trait, but only in moderation. Your journey is your own, but that doesn’t mean there aren’t other people who want to make the way easier for you.

It doesn’t matter how great our ideas are if we never put them into action. Our ambitions will never amount to anything if we don’t take the first step toward making them a reality, even if we have to push past our fear to do so. Of course, failure is always a possibility, but we each have to decide whether we are going to live in a place of fear or a place of freedom.

There was no scenario in which my situation could solve itself- no way anything was going to change if I didn’t force myself to be the catalyst for that change.

Do we allow our fears to paralyze us, or do we find the courage to lean in and stare them down? Only when we face our fears head-on, do we find out what is possible beyond our limitations.

In the act of forgiveness, I created my own closure- and most of all, I reclaimed my power. In my journey toward healing, I found that forgiveness is the way we liberate ourselves as we let go of anger, resentment, and hate, and instead fill our hearts with love, compassion, and hope. There is a power that comes with forgiveness- a lightness of spirit.

But rising above doesn’t always mean sticking it out; it simply means doing the right thing and trusting that everything will work out.

I would choose to live. Each day, I would choose, over and over for years to come, to be more than my circumstance. And what gave me the courage to make that same decision every day was the knowledge that I wasn’t in this alone.

...surround yourself with individuals who believe you can make a difference and change the world.

Sometimes we go through the unimaginable, but it’s those very experiences that give us the drive, the reason, and the passion to go out and make a true difference in the world. Without that shake-up, we may never gain the perspective or wisdom to live into our full capacity. There’s an old expression: “God never wastes a pain.” I can see now, years down the road, how true that was for me. My trauma was the soil from which something beautiful would grow; I simply had to trust, wait, and keep responding to life with hope. At the time, of course, I was so consumed by the struggle that it was hard to imagine anything good coming from my pain, but that’s because my vision for myself was still hemmed in by past constraints and ideas. When old parameters are stripped away, we often find that our future is infinitely greater than anything we might have dreamed otherwise, and our potential is utterly limitless.

I could live limited by other people’s perceptions of what I could or should do, or I could pursue the life I wanted. It wasn’t about the medals or the records, but about believing in my own worth enough to chase my goals with everything I had in me. And that’s true for all of us. When we draw our identity from our own passions and core values rather than someone else’s expectations, only then are we able to fulfill our greatest potential. Of course, there will be times when we question the struggle or days when we don’t feel up to the task, but it’s up to each of us to turn our excuses into fuel. When you catch yourself saying, “I can’t do this because...,” ask whether you really believe that or if you are just settling for someone else’s idea of what you should be. It may seem hard today, but you know what’s even harder? Living the rest of your life boxed in by other people’s restraints.

Simply by shifting our own outlook, we change our own little corner of the planet, and that ripples outward.