More Than Medals

 
This kid has had a really rough few weeks.

There have been tears….so many tears.

(Like enough tears to have other parents ask about her after practice)

 

Landry started competing in gymnastics two years ago and she has spent most of her time on the 1^st, 2^nd, and 3^rd place podiums. She is a powerhouse. She is stubborn and determined but more than that; gymnastics just comes easy for her.

 

It still does…

...most of the time.

While I have loved watching her succeed so effortlessly, I have always worried about the time when it isn’t easy anymore. Does she have the strength to push through? Will she give up or work for what she wants?

 

More than medals, I want her to collect confidence, and strength and the ability to believe in herself even if she’s the only one who does. I want her to be just as tough mentally as she is physically. I want her to know the feeling of working hard for something and getting it. I want her to never doubt herself.

 

Effortless and easy don’t often equate to those things.

So, as bad as it sounds, I want her to struggle sometimes. Not enough to break her, but just enough to keep her always striving for more and KNOWING she can accomplish it.

 

Back to these last two weeks… 

She got the struggle I’ve been waiting for, and I second guessed my entire parenting style. Watching her really struggle was tough. Watching her walk out of class in tears and go to bed in tears was gut-wrenching. Knowing I couldn’t help was even harder.

 

As I was second guessing the sport, her ability, my role in pushing her, I realized she wasn’t second guessing anything.

 

She was frustrated and shed a lot of tears, but she kept showing up and kept working. Her coaches pushed her when she needed and made her stop when she needed a break. Sometimes she cried because she couldn’t land that damn back walkover and sometimes, she cried because she got kicked off the beam (she needed to be), but she NEVER gave up and never asked to quit.

 

She came home this week determined to land the back walkover without a spot, and she did it. She also collected some of those other things: confidence, belief in her ability, mental toughness. Those are the things I’m most thankful for…and grateful.

Grateful because she has some amazing humans in her corner. They believe in her more than she does sometimes. They know when to help and when to let her depend on herself.  They may not be changing the world, but they are changing this little girl’s world.

Landry will likely never compete in the Olympics and may not even compete at the collegiate level, but she will take the lessons learned in the gym with her throughout her life, they will help to shape her into the adult she will be one day.  

If I never say it directly... THANK YOU.  

Thank you for the lessons, the friendships, the family.

Thank you for helping my girl to believe in herself and reach her goals.  

 

And with that....

Competition is coming up this weekend and we’re rolling into it with ALL the confidence….