This is NOT how I imagined the final week of my first bodybuilding competition would go. I’ve spent almost an entire year working toward this Saturday. And in my head, I had this picture of exactly how these final days would look. The perfect peak week. The perfect preparation. The perfect ending to everything I’d worked so hard for. Instead, life had other plans. This week has been filled with hospital visits, blood work, uncertainty about my health, changes in my body I wasn’t expecting, and some of the most uncomfortable conversations I’ve ever had with myself. And somewhere in the middle of all that, I realized something. I can either spend this entire week being upset that things didn’t go according to plan… Or I can accept what’s happened, learn from it, and make the most of what’s in front of me. Because the truth is, life doesn’t care about the plans we make. Sometimes you do everything you can to prepare for something, and things STILL don’t go the way you imagined. But that doesn’t mean everything you worked for was for nothing. These pictures tell the story of my week. The swelling. The changes in my body. The food. The quiet moments. The moments where I had to put my phone down, pick up a book, and just be present. And despite everything, I’ve found moments of peace, gratitude, and even happiness. I don’t want to spend my life only being proud of myself when everything goes perfectly. I want to be proud of the way I carry myself when it doesn’t. And that’s what this week has been teaching me. I think I’ve made my decision about whether I’m stepping on stage this Saturday. And if you know me well enough, you probably already know what that decision is. 👀 But whatever happens, I know this much. The work I put in over the past year was real. The lessons I’ve learned are real. And none of that disappears because one week looked different than I expected. This one means a lot to me. Thank you for being here through all of it. ❤️ - @yse