"Pro" ...it seems to denote some sort of royalty...

...and it shouldn't!

I've noticed lately that having the "pro" title near my name makes me sound like I'm some sort of super hero or member of the royal family.  I'd like to explore a little bit why that word holds so much weight; I'd also like to put it out there that it realllllly shouldn't.  Anyone who knows me is well aware that I'm nothing special.  I'm an average everyday girl going through the same crap as everybody else.  I eat, sleep, and poop just like the rest of the human race.

Here's what the New Oxford American Dictionary has to say about it:
professional |prəˈfeSHənl|adjective1 [ attrib. ] of, relating to, or connected with a profession: young professional people| the professional schools of Yale and Harvard.2 (of a person) engaged in a specified activity as one's main paid occupation rather than as a pastime: a professional boxer.• having or showing the skill appropriate to a professional person; competent or skillful: their music is both memorable and professional.• worthy of or appropriate to a professional person: his professional expertise.• informal, derogatory denoting a person who persistently makes a feature of a particular activity or attribute: a professional naysayer.nouna person engaged or qualified in a profession: professionals such as lawyers and surveyors.• a person engaged in a specified activity, esp. a sport or branch of the performing arts, as a main paid occupation rather than as a pastime.• a person competent or skilled in a particular activity: she was a real professional on stage.
There are obviously lots of definitions that can apply, but the only one that applies to me is the very last one.  Being a "pro" mountain biker is only really a big deal to 1% of the cyclists who race.  The other 99% pretty much fit in the same category.  We are the middle class of the cycling world.  We work our asses off and don't make any real money for it.  Even the 1% that make money cycling don't really make a whole lot of money.  What they earn is fame, not fortune...  unless they are Lance, but there's only one of him. 
I told someone yesterday that being a "pro" only means that you are racing in a particular category.  It means that you are willing to push yourself to an extra level, or maybe you are just more willing to get your ass kicked...  other than that, it doesn't make you special.  It shouldn't make other people feel like they are less important, or that they are not an accomplished athlete.  We need to stop looking at labels as if they mean something more than they do.  
As a cyclist with that silly "Pro" label on my cycling license, I don't feel any different than I did when I first started riding and racing.  Yeah, my ass is a little tighter, and I've had some awesome experiences along the way, but I'm still just me.  I'm just like everyone else out there.  I don't have any sponsors.  I have to pay to race (in fact, sometimes pro races cost more).  AND, I my ass STILL hurts when I've been in the saddle all day... just like everyone else's.