There are those who say that the sport of gymnastics can relate to this thing we call life. That the trials we face can be like breaking a bone on the vault doing a double back-tuck or like getting a brush burn on the floor, falling on your knees after doing the triple full that you have been practicing for months.
I know more about gymnastics than most realize because I was a cheerleader who tumbled her heart out and gave every single second she could to improving her skills and landing every trick she had. I can still feel the sensation of flying through the air and landing flat on my feet after doing a round-off back tuck. I can still feel my back bending after doing a double backhand-spring on the spring floor of my gym I called home and my playground.
I admit I had a couple tumbles and scrapes and I definitely had some scary moments of landing on my head and having the thought oh God, did I break my neck? Scary yet powerful nonetheless because each tumble and scrape just made me want to land the tricks even more. But, I didn't get as far as I wanted to because life had other curveballs to throw.
But as I was saying gymnastics does have a way of relating itself to life as does every sport in existence. The tumbles and scrapes are like little mountains you have to climb. Depending on the circumstances, it may take some ice and you'd be able to get up within a few minutes and there are others where you need more time or a different strategy to tackle it. I've been through both.
I had to give up my love of tumbling because I had a spinal fusion when I was just 14 years old and that surgery prevented me from moving forward in my cheerleading career. I was devastated because I absolutely loved the feeling on putting on my gear, mentally preparing myself on the tricks I needed to perform, and I loved feeling of the mat underneath my fingers. It was a blow I think about everyday, but it gave me the strength to put my energy into something more efficient and needed. My coaching and school. That was my life-long injury that prevented me from doing what I loved.
Though every once in a while I look at the pictures of my cheering days and I smile because it was so much fun and I took it so seriously that I won awards for my spirit, my attitude, and my team-based coaching strategy. It's memories that I never forget and probably won't be able to.
The gymnastics world like the real world is an unforgiving place and it will take you through some of the craziest and wild rides of your life. But, take each new skill as a blessing and use it as best you can whenever you can. Take each fall as a chance to rebuild your strategy and move forward, learning a lesson from it. And take each blow as a chance to turn into something good; never negative. The bumps, cuts, scrapes, and bruises mean that you fought hard and have nothing to prove; you just never gave up is what that means.
The only person who can make it or break it is you. So the question is.........what will you do to make it?
