I think I just signed up to be someone's Mentor/The Dark Side

Which is totally cool by me. This is someone I know mostly just from online, although we met in person back in 2001. I will call her "Shelley." She has seen my online persona, which can be abrasive at times, and she has seen my athletic performance blossom over the years. Shelley has just recently decided she is ready to come over to the DARK SIDE, as I like to call it.

What is the Dark Side? It's a way of life where:

• You expect the best from yourself only because you want to find out how far you can go.
• You are willing to learn as much about yourself, mind AND body, as possible, in an effort to understand the complex being that is you, how it works, and what makes it work WELL.
• You are not afraid of bigger and bigger challenges, that once you actually begin them you are thinking, "what the fuck was I thinking when I signed up for this?"
• You are not afraid to dig deep in a workout if that's what it takes to accomplish what you need to do. But you are smart enough to throttle it back based on your self-knowledge of cause and effect.
• You understand that digging deep in a race is normal, not extreme.
• You are not swayed by the opinions/emotions of others. Opinions are to be considered and evaluated; emotions are for the other person to experience. YOUR emotions are to be experienced fully and guiltlessly--they are part of what makes life worth LIVING.
• You seek out and cultivate friendships/mentorships with those who challenge your way of thinking and being.
• You do not apologize to anyone for wanting to be in a different dimension of consciousness and physical achievement.
• You cultivate quiet confidence in yourself, knowing that revealing all about your thoughts and methods to those on the other side is a waste of your precious energy.
• You do not seek perfection; your aim is improvement through athletic performance while cultivating a mind of iron.
• You do not forget that a sense of humor about everything is necessary. Laughing at yourself is the easiest thing to do; laughing with others is infectious; and laughing AT others is even OK as long as it's kept in perspective.
• You are not afraid of labels like aggro, hardcore, extreme or crazy; in fact, you consider them compliments!