Training: A Motto for Athletes, Writers, and Grievers

​Athlete train with discipline to achieve their goals. They hope their mind and body create synchrony and harmony to maximize performance. We have witnessed athletes reach rewards and achievements, stumble setbacks, plateaus, fall and get up, recover from injuries, and put their heart and soul into the sport.
 
Training can be applied to other areas of your life. I am an adult figure skater with no sports background. Training is a new phenomenon. I incorporate the principles into my writing, and attempt to in the grief process. When I train, the degree of synchrony varies. I continue to be unable to sync my mind and body in the grief journey, predominately in skating, and allow in the writing process.
 
I fell over in the chair at the doctor’s office when he called me an athlete in my fifties. Adult skaters need consistent practice, hard work, and above all, fun to improve our skills. Our bodies and thinking unlike in our youth. When a coach teaches me a new element, I comprehend how to execute in my head, but sometimes the body doesn’t follow. Repeating the drill, I come up with the “Judy” verbiage in my mind to interrupt the coach’s word to translate to the ice. Understanding your body’s strengths, weaknesses, limitations, and setting realistic goals will help you succeed.
 
A broken foot two years ago, set my skating training back. I babied the weak right foot and put too much effort on the stronger left leg. The goal of performing in the club show and securing a program within a month, forced me to ignore the imbalance. The beautiful program’s emphasis on the stronger left side only worsened the weakness on the right. I pulled a hamstring on the left leg. I opted out of performing in this year to focus on balancing out both legs. The challenge for next year’s performance is to do elements bilaterally. I hope the mind and body align to skate a lovely performance. I have a lot of work to do.
 
Writing is about discipline as I say -tushy to the table, the discipline to write daily.  A recent kink in an editor forced me to pivot the trajectory of my writing process. I had to reevaluate what path to take and find a new method of achievements and goals.  I took a Creative Writing course that sparked a new dimension to my writing. I sifted through old material finding new topics for blogs and deepened some pieces. I set some unrealistic goals that I tweaked and were better suited to not overwhelm me.
 
Training in the grieving process proved the most challenging. Forgiving myself for not doing the grief work sooner, left my head and heart at odds.  I knew I did the best I could at the time at a young twenty-five, but my heart full of regrets and years lost. Why wouldn’t I allow my skating training principles to grief? Emotions factored into the equation. If I had rewarded myself with small victories, forgiveness may have looked different. I feel like champion on the ice when I master a small element. For grief, I need to give myself the same grace.
 
I’m thankful for training and the numerous lessons learned – discipline, when you fall you get up, setting goals, hard work, and routine. Training requires personal growth and staying true to myself.