So many times I recognized that look on her face. The look that told me, inside my girl a battle was happening. I could see her now, on the floor, surrounded by 90 other tiny gymnasts, fighting that internal struggle that so many times defeated her. So many times fear won and my little girl was left feeling heavy and disappointed in herself. Words of encouragement from me and her coach could only carry her so far. It had to come from within. She had to defeat it by herself. And this time she did.
I was clenching. I was so nervous for her. I so badly wanted her to just fight against her instinct to flee. I told her so many times all it will take is a few seconds of fearlessness and those feelings will be gone. During warm-ups she was separated in the chaos from her team. I could see the fear winning and so did Coach Becky. Becky swooped in and gave her what exactly what she needed to win –a calm, familiar touch. She could have given in. She could have made eye contact with me and walked away. But she didn’t.
All it took was one time, just one meet, to overcome that anxiety. Will she be nervous next time? Yes, probably. But will it beat her? No, I don’t think so!
Did she score high? Did she take home a top 10 medal? No. But she did it. She fought her fear that so many times before won and for that I will always be over-the-moon proud of my girl.
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