Once upon a time I met an adorable athlete at a Fantastic Beasts training session. But don’t tell him I called him adorable, because he probably wants to be mean or fierce or strong or beastly or something like that.

Anyway, at the beginning of our training session I asked for fundraising or apparel ideas and he came up to me after class and threw out this idea:

“I think we should get shirts made and everyone gets to choose a different Beast nickname to put on the back of their shirt AND MINE WILL BE TROLL!”

Of course I say “oh hell yes, let’s do it.”

But then later that week it dawned on me maybe he and I had different types of trolls in mind. So I shoot him a message to ask.

Me: Hey did you mean your beast is crazy hair troll doll or like an under the bridge troll?

Him: haha lol no like mountain trolls.

Of course I was thinking like the adorable troll dolls a la Lis Smash’s 2011 Halloween costume.

NO! DO NOT SCROLL DOWN

First, let me explain.

I had just lost my job when the gym I managed got sold and so I was feeling a little aimless and extra agreeable.

And where I’m from (planet earth) for Halloween we dress as scantily as our confidence, or the weather, or some combination of both, will allow. So when my friend Laila invited me to dress up like a troll doll with some other friends, I agreed.

Then gradually the group dwindled from a pack of friend trolls to just two troll girls.

And then we didn’t even end up going to the same party. And even though people asked us all night “soo, what are you supposed to be?”, we were ADORABLE!

But my point is, whether you see yourself as an adorable troll doll, or a weird troll doll, or an ugly mountain troll, you are fierce and/or beautiful to someone.

Be kinder with the noise in your head. Stop trolling yourself.

And for the athletes preparing for next month’s USPA Georgia Open, yes, we all get anxious. I haven’t stepped on the platform in 18 months, but I’ll be there, trying to set a USPA National/IPL International qualifying total. So every time we begin to obsess over what might happen on the platform next month, let’s look at a silly gif instead. Or a bad Halloween costume.

xoxo

Lis Smash aka Blue Troll aka He-Man

Please follow Team Lis Smash on Instagram.