I've been watching the Olympics and I wonder why I couldn't have been like them when I was 16? They are so good, so fit, but really, what sets us apart? I've given it some thought.
Hmm...
Swimming--I love to swim and hang out by the pool. So, why didn't someone pull me aside and say
"Why don't you try out for the Swim Team?"
Tomorrow I will drag myself out of bed at 6:00 am and go to a cardio class at the local pool. UNLESS... it is below 65 degees when I wake up...it is raining...the sun isn't ready to come up...or maybe I just don't feel like it when the alarm goes off. I bet those Olympians have days when they just don't feel like it, too.
Gymnastics--This was my favorite part of PE in school. I loved the balance beam, and I could vault right over that pommel horse! Of course, I don't ever remember being asked to do a back ward flip on the beam, which was just as good. I mean, really, why would someone do a back flip on a 4 inch wide piece of wood, 3 feet off the ground, if they didn't have real eyes in the back of their head? So perhaps, I was missing a secret anatomical part that gymnasts have.
As for the Parallel bars, sure, I remember working out on them. Some moves were really fun, but I wasn't all that impressed with a move called 'traveling'. It meant swinging from one end to the other on my ARMS. OW! They could really get bruised that way. I'm not real big on activities that could get me bruised.
One event really does get me though. It is the men's tumbling on the mats. Have you seen the hand stand they do with the arms spread out at a wide stance? Are they kidding? I'm still working on learning how to do a real push-up, where my nose actually gets within a couple of inches of the mat, instead of a foot away. Oh well... that's the men's gymnastics. I'm a girl! So as long as I can jump 3 feet in the air and do a bunch of twisting and turning and land upright on 2 feet like a cat, I'm good. (Not that I can actually do that, but I'm not 16 and no one asked me to do that when I was, so who knows?)
Yep. When I think about it there really isn't anything separating me from an Olympic athlete except:
Dedication
Determination
Motivation
Physicality
Ability
And the Uneven Parallel Bars.
I don't like heights.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
I think we all focus on the skill of the sport, like that is the most important factor in making an Olympian. No - - it's attitude, which, as you say, encompasses drive, determination, motivation, discipline, dedication, positive outlook, confidence, and ability to pick oneself up when you falter. Without that no amount of skill will get you anywhere.
ReplyDelete