Gymnastics Teaches Powerful Life Lessons

Introduction

As I placed my one-year-old daughter on the examination table during her well-visit, as she remained unaware that the sting of injections were about to electrify her tiny body, her pediatrician made a statement that jolted my capacity to hear what he said.

Prior to hearing the insightful words that the doctor casually spoke, I already had mapped out the plans for my daughter’s development as a child. My daughter would begin to play an instrument, perhaps the violin, as a toddler and definitely the piano very young just like I did. She would also participate in a world language program so that she would be fluent in several languages. My ultimate plan for my little girl was to become totally immersed in academics without interruption. She would attend the best private school and her life would revolved around her studies. After all, as an educator, that reflected who I was.

I had no idea that the words that the medical doctor said would alter all of the plans that I established for my child. As the pediatrician prepared to give my infant daughter her vaccinations, he said

“she has the physique of a gymnast”.

Even though I heard what the doctor said, I listened to his words.

The Journey

Even before the doctor made the comment, my daughter’s physical development had always been remarkable. She began holding her bottle at two months and she always reached physical milestones much earlier than other infants her age. However, after the statement, my daughter accomplished some impressive physical tasks.

My daughter never crawled. She simply stood, crept around furniture, and began walking around ten months. My infant became a fast little runner. Many times she quickly got away from me like the time she laughed and giggled as she ran down the center isle of our church as the preacher of our large congregation delivered his sermon in the pulpit. As a fourteen month old, she had the ability to use her arms and legs to scale the post of her pack-and-play set to climb out several times. As my toddler continued to amaze me by her pure enjoyment of movement and for being able to accomplish uncommon physical activities for a two year old like hopping and jumping in a coordinated manner, I concluded that I should explore gymnastics.

We enrolled in a “Mommy and Me” gymnastics program when my daughter was two years old. Our consistent routine each Saturday morning was attending our class together. My little girl excelled in this class and was regularly chosen to demonstrate new skills to the other youngsters and parents. She was moved to developmental classes that I did not participate in with her. By the time she enrolled in preschool, she participated in an advanced gymnastics program a two days a week. My daughter began participating in a pre-competitive gymnastics training program at the age of five several days a week the same time that she enrolled in a highly competitive private school for kindergarten.

My daughter is now a teenager. She has consistently participated in yer-round competitive gymnastics from the age of six. This has meant that she has trained every day of the week during some periods of time. She has competed in several different states in the United States and as far away as the Bahamas. Summers have typically been filled with developmental training camps in gymnastics facilities like national training gyms, collegiate gyms, and her home gym. She has also trained with dance instructors as well as athletic trainers.

In an effort to give my daughter the time that she needs to develop as a gymnast, she attends a wonderful cyber school. Even though she attended the rigorous private school for seven years, she needed more flexibility in her schedule.

My daughter has established very personal goals for herself in her sport. She is dedicated to her continued development as a gymnast and endeavors to be the best version of herself. Additionally, my child desires to become a medical doctor and is committed to working hard to achieve that long-term goal for herself.

Life Lessons My Daughter Is Learning As A Gymnast

Until recently, I believed that student musicians were among the most well-rounded learners. A conversation with my daughter a few days ago changed my thinking. She informed me that she was only taking piano lessons because it was my dream for her. She also emphasized that gymnastics was her genuine passion. Once I came to terms with this reality and immediately stopped her music lessons, I began to consider all of the powerful benefits of her participation in this beautiful sport from my perspective as a mother.

Gymnastics continues to teach my daughter the following life lessons.

1. She understands the importance of hard work. Gymnastics is a very difficult sport that requires the incremental development of very specific physical skills. Gymnasts become proficient and achieve mastery with these accomplishments by remaining committed to repetitive and continuous practice. Her strong work ethic remains consistent for her academic and school related studies, too. All of these things are connected to her self-discipline.
2. My daughter continues to develop her time management skills. Since she must make sure that her cyber school program remains the priority in her life, she has to balance her time to use it wisely. This has been a developmental journey for her because she required more guidance from me when she initially enrolled in cyber school. Maturity has taught her to how to grow to become more responsible with her time so that she remains focused on her school requirements while she participates in her sport along with athletic training and ballet. Ultimately, she has learned the importance of establishing priorities in her life.
3. My child has grown to understand the power perseverance plays in her life. She has always been surrounded by very talented gymnasts as she trains and she encounters some of the best athletes when she competes. Even though she experienced moments of excitement when she experiences a high level of success as well as those when her absolute best was ranked at the lowest level, she continues to grow to become a resilient young lady. She continues to learn to win and lose with dignity.
4. Self-care is something else that gymnastics continues to teach my daughter. She is growing to understand the importance daily exercise, good nutrition, and adequate hydration play in her development as an athlete. In addition, she has learned to listen to her body as it signals the need for responses like rest and medical attention.
5. Gymnastics continues to teach my daughter mental toughness. As gymnastics training progresses for athletes, it has the capacity to become extremely scary for many gymnasts. My daughter went through a phase where she did not believe she could learn a new skill on the balance beam. She developed a genuine fear that caused her to become paralyzed with anxiety. These episodes even included tears during practices and competitions. With the help of patient coaches who are trained to help athletes adopt a tough mindset, through repetition, and by becoming determined to be courageous, she overcame that fear. Her confidence continues to increase.
6. My daughter continues to develop interpersonal skills. She understands the importance of contributing to the team process by working together to support common goals. Team attributes like cooperation, encouragement, and unity have become important to her. So are the friendships that she continues to make while participating in this sport.

Powerful Life Lessons I Am Learning As A Parent

Gymnastics not only adds value to my daughter’s life, her participation in this sport continues to teach me life lessons. These are the significant things that I have been learning.

1. I grew to understand that I could not dictate nor be the mastermind of the passion that burned within my daughter’s heart. Even though I initially did not have plans for her to become an athlete, I had to release the developmental goals that I identified for her so that she had the freedom to follow her heart. I realized that I could no longer force my child to participate in all of the experiences that I participated in when I grew up.
2. I accept the reality that the sacrifices that I make in order for my daughter to participate in gymnastics contributes to her happiness and well-being. These obvious sacrifices include the time that I spend transporting her to practices at least five times a week as well as waiting for her in my car due to the distance we drive, traveling to competitions, and all of the expenses related to fees, tuition, and her attire. My daughter does not take these sacrifices for granted. She sincerely appreciates all that I do to support her participation in her sport.
3. Since I was never an athlete, I failed to understand the individual and interpersonal developmental benefits associated with participating in a sport. Now that my perspective includes more than engaging my daughter in academic experiences, supporting my daughter’s development as a gymnast has helped me become a more responsive and stronger parent.
4. I have grown to have a deep respect and appreciation for gymnastics because the sport instills multidimensional rigor in her life. For example, gymnastics contributes to her overall success as a student at school and her sport also contributes to her ability to maintain good global citizenship.
5. I have realized that the sport is filled with positive Black role models for my daughter to look up to. I consider this extremely important because this contributes to my child having a positive self-image because she is able to see females who look like her in the sport. Additionally, this gives her a spirit of hope as she believes that the overall goals that she is establishing for herself can become a reality.
6. Most importantly, I have learned that no matter how great or how small the success is that my daughter experiences while participating in practices or competitions, it helps her to feel good about herself. As a mother, there has been nothing more rewarding to witness than self-confidence emerging in my daughter’s life.

Conclusion

Giving our children the freedom to discover their own passion in life is a critical function of parenting. Once our children have a chance to participate in various developmental experiences and an area of exploration peeks their interest, I consider it appropriate to provide them with increased opportunities to become more deeply engaged in these things.

Good parenting involves supporting their child’s interests and endeavors. This means that the child should not be overshadowed with activities that the parent valued when they were younger. Providing children with space to love what they exclusively love will contribute to their overall development.

Gymnastics really has taught my daughter wonderful life lessons. As a family engagement influencer and mother, the sport has taught me a lot of power things, too.

In closing, I would like to share a very appropriate quote from my daughter’s coach who has worked with her longer than any other educator has.

“Girls have a fine line to walk but they need to learn that they can be kind and they can be fierce at the same time. They can be kind and they can be tough and determined and show grit. To be successful in gymnastics and in life, both are required.” -Lainy Carslaw, Coach and Author

Thank you for reading this story about my daughter's deep connection to her sport and my journey to awakening her passion to it.

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This story was originally published on Medium.com in ILLUMINATION-Curated.