Saturday, September 5, 2009

The Best Stuff Ever!

The thing that has shaped me more than anything is my relationship with the Lord.

I would say, though, that the experience that has been the largest contributing factor to the way I live, my strength, and my work ethic was my gymnastics career.

I changed SO MUCH because of my training. Nowhere have I ever felt as successful, useful, appreciated, and a part of something than I did in the gym.

I learned to endure hardships, push through pain, plan ahead, set goals, maintain composure, and strive for perfection..... and those are just the ones off the top of my head.

My joints remind me daily of all I put my body through. I would, however, relive it again and again and again if I could. I can't adequately describe the joy it brought me.

I wish I had access to videos of me as a gymnast. My family didn't own a video camera. I've lost contact with the people that probably still have any video from way back then. We did have one video of my very first season (when I was really, really bad) but even that has gone missing. And there aren't any pictures from competitions because my father was the photographer but he rarely came to competitions and never brought a camera.

I do have a couple of odd shots though.

This one is from my best season ever. It was taken on my Granny's front sidewalk. Me and a teammate were goofing off and taking cheesy pictures. Don't ya just love the outfit? It had been cold outside and that day was hot! We made an unplanned stop at my Grandmother's house on the way home (Jackson, MS) from a meet in Birmingham, AL. I wasn't prepared for the weather so I borrowed clothes from my granny.

This one is from after college when I was coaching a team in Florida. The other coach and I played whenever we could. We used to do what we could still do while the team was taking breaks. We called it "Fat People's Gymnastics". I miss those days.

Here's a teeny one I copied off of Facebook. It's me spotting a fly away last season. I say spotting. Really I was just there for moral support. She can do the skill. Sometimes they just need to know someone is standing there who could save their life if it all of the sudden needs saving :) I still coach at the local high school. I just can't seem to wander away from the sport for good. It's almost high school gymnastics season and I can hardly wait!

In case you're not already sick of this particular subject, here's a cool gymnastics montage for your viewing pleasure.

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1 comment:

  1. StephSeptember 6, 2009 at 2:58 PM

    I loved seeing those pics of you! I can only imagine how hard you had to work to prepare for competitions in gymnastics. Whew!

    The montage was amazing...

    Be blessed! ♥

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