Lessons from an Olympian

I just spent the past 3 hours watching CBC's coverage of the Olympics. During this time, I first witnessed Michael Phelps effortlessly freestyle his way to another world record, then watched the Chinese Men's gymnastic team triumphantly "vault" beyond their US and Japan contenders in the team event. But what impacted me the most tonight, was not the victories, but the mistakes. One that stood out especially occurred in the high-bar event, when a German gymnast, Fabian Hambuechen, had a hand slip from the bar during a typical transition and the next thing I know he was dangling off the bar like a kid on the jungle gym. Just prior to this, the announcer was going on and on about their high expectations for Hambuechen and the thrill that the crowd is going to get from his highly difficult and elegant routine. I was shocked and empathetically devastated; but in the moments the followed, those feelings were replaced with hope and admiration as he quickly adjusted the taping around his wrist, got boosted back on the bar by his coach, and completed his original routine with a near-perfect landing.

So maybe I've never experienced the pressure of competing at an international event with billions of viewers, but I remember royally botching two performances, both during my teenage years and in a team setting. The first mess up was a trumpet solo in a Grade 9 Jazz Band competition in Saskatchewan. I froze during 16 out a 22 measure Basin Street Blues solo. Woo boy! I thought my band teacher would say something, but she never did. Then in Grade 10, I was in a cheerleading competition, again in Saskatchewan. One of the cheerleaders got injured the night before competition, which led to last minute formation changes that affected me and the sequence of some of my choreography. Yeppers! I, again, froze during competition for 16 dance beats. During the 8 seconds of agonizing hell, I first wished mightily for the power of invisibility. Then I thought, "Well, I'm in exactly the centre of this formation. Maybe they won't notice that I'm not moving since everything is symmetrical." Thankfully, I was able to snap out of it and finish the rest of the routine without incident.

You'd think I took those incidents really hard; I'm definitely not the poster child for Under-achieving Asians. But I didn't. I guess, I must've not taken those activities too seriously. It's not like I was in the Olympics or something.

So back to Fabian Hambuechen. I don't know what he's feeling now. But I really appreciated his display of perseverance, and his ability to suck it up and finish the job for his team. Not everyone can compete in the Olympics, but anyone can choose perseverance. Life is all about jumping back on the proverbial horse. Hopefully mine isn't too wild.