Its one thing to do your first show, its another to go back & do it again. Some people get hooked & take each show as a challenge to themselves. Some people make a career out of chasing the Ms. O title. There are some amateurs who get the pro card & hang up their suit w/ the title to their name and settle into a very happy non-competing pro life. Others, once they get their pro card, fall back to the bottom of the barrel but on the pro level now.
Every step of the way is a choice of do I continue, is it worth it / or no. Always make sure first & foremost you are competing for yourself. Ultimately you have what God gave you and what you do with it. The girl above will forever be plagued by no boobs first of all. She also has some weird proportions and is very thick in the waist. She also looks like she has the beef such that the 20% softer thing goes against her. She'd look a lot better if she were ripped up some more w/ a little more on her legs. And that doesnt' even go to her chemical enhancement.
But the cool thing is that as long as you are making your primary goal to compete with yourself and be objective about each achievement, you can also stop or pick it back up at any time. That is the one and only important thing to keep in mind. If you get caught up into the more drugs is better, if only I were a little bigger, etc etc etc, then you end up being able to provide the bass part of your local church choir. The criteria for when is it enough, when am I satisfied, when is it worth the sacrifice is all of those things --- because at the end of the day, what is your reward? Even the top people don't exactly have a ripping career unless you're into muscle porn. There's little or no money in it and you will forever have to deal w/ the rest of the mainstream world who basically just stare for a minute, make some dumbass comment and then move on. So... all u gotta do is make yourself happy.
Me personally - you have no idea how bad I"ve wanted to be good enough to feel like I belong on the stage at the Southern States show - 6 yrs at least. TO do a national show was a big fucking deal too. But I also now have a problem in every major joint in my body. I never liked the ups & downs of the fat, I've always had problems cutting down enough in the waist, mostly I don't like being big and yet I'm still 20 lb under weight for competition. Its harder & harder to get the fat off and everything hurts more & more. HOwever the "doing" of the prep has become much more doable for me as far as diet misery, etc, so mentally I'm much more well-prepared. Goals-wise - well - no more BB. Competition-wise - is it important to me to be able to compete, and if yes, is figure sufficiently satisfying to me? No idea. I also have several things I'm trying to accomplish in my personal life because I just can't wait for things to work out the right way any more. But the opportunity to compete is ALWAYS there... there's always another show. I think that is what mostly keeps things in perspective for me. Its not a race to keep getting bigger bigger more more more, etc. Its always there & balance in your life will pay you back more than anything if you can keep that while exploring the world of competition.
*steps back from the podium*
lol...