GOAT

I freaking love the Olympic Games! I love the athleticism, all the different bodies, the competition, the cooperation, the mind-blowing stretch of human potential, the heart, the huge range of big emotions… did I mention the bodies? 😉 No, but seriously, I do love watching the Olympics.

Of all the records broken, incredible comebacks, and astonishing feats accomplished in the two weeks of amazingness that was the Summer 2021 Olympic Games, what was for me far and above the most remarkable, most inspiring, and most memorable moment of them all was one which none of us even saw because it didn’t take place on a field, nor a track, nor a court, nor a pool, nor in a gym. It took place behind the scenes with no cameras around. It was the moment Team USA gymnast, Simone Biles, withdrew herself from the competition.

Here’s why I think it was so remarkable and arguably more notable than anything else (that I know of) that happened in those two weeks:

Leading up to her withdrawal, Simone Biles was making mistakes she doesn’t typically make and just wasn’t performing the way she usually does. In other words, she was doing super human instead of super-duper human things with her body.

When she felt in her body that something wasn’t right, she did this most courageous and inspiring thing: she took a time out. She paused. Then she turned inward and listened for her inner voice for guidance. She heard it. And though she didn’t necessarily understand or like what it had to say, instead of ignoring, dismissing, shouting over, or betraying that truth-telling voice, that knowing inside of her, she trusted it. Not only did she trust it, but she also went and did this next radical thing: she spoke it out loud. She told her truth to both herself and to others — her coaches, teammates, the millions of people watching her in this extremely public, high-stakes situation.

Something in her was so damn committed to honoring the divine truth of the moment that she chose to release expectation and to choose herself, her physical and mental well-being, and risked disappointing those she loved and those who had invested tons of time and energy into her and into this very moment.

So, she does this wild, brave, amazing thing of trusting herself, choosing herself, and honoring her truth right smack dab in the pressure of the Olympic Games, and what happens next? She is supported. Hordes of people literally and figuratively got on their feet and cheered more loudly and supported her more fiercely than ever before.

This move she executed will, I believe, prove to be more memorable, more meaningful, and much further reaching in its affect than one more rotation, one more stuck landing, even one more gold medal ever could have been. For starters, in publicly choosing her well-being and honoring her truth, I can only imagine how many others she inspired and “granted permission” to do the same in their own lives however awkward, scary, and inconvenient it may be. Now, that’s power. That’s alignment. That’s how you create a legacy. And that’s what transforms someone from a super talented, driven, disciplined athlete to GOAT status (in my book, anyway).

For giving us all this gift and so generously sharing this lesson, Ms. Biles received something in return. She wrote: “The outpouring of love and support I’ve received has made me realize I’m more than my accomplishments and gymnastics, which I never truly believed before.” Her 2021 Olympic Games souvenir of a revolutionary understanding of her inherent value and unconditional lovability is, I would bet, more meaningful and will have a greater impact on her life than all of her Olympic medals combined.

Perhaps the most imperative thing to understand about this phenomenal act of hers that I’ve been going on and on about is that it didn’t just happen out of the blue. Simone Biles must have been practicing listening to herself just as diligently as she had been practicing her Yurchenko double pike, because you cannot listen to others and prioritize their opinions and agendas over your own knowing in the small, everyday moments and then have the know-how and courage to listen to and choose yourself in the biggest, most high-risk, stressful, and significant moments. You have to be practicing and implementing and know how it feels in your body all along the way so that when life’s big moments do come, it’s more of a muscle memory response. The neural pathways have been carved deeply and you know just what to do: You go inside, you hear, and you follow through. There may still be fear, but there is no doubt.

I fantasize about being that aligned and and assured in both the big and small moments. I’m not there yet, but I’m practicing and attuning to my own knowing. I’m finding it helpful when I remember that my “inner voice” speaks to me in sensations rather than words. My knowing is pre-verbal, it is visceral. As someone who loves words and reason, it means learning to listen with and trust a different part of myself. I invite you to begin practicing today, too. Do something that allows you to “get into your body,” focus your mind, and return home to yourself so that you too may sense those irrefutable signals from within that give you the confidence and courage to risk dis-appointing anyone or anything that might have claimed authority over your own self in your own life, and support you in breathing, speaking, and living in alignment with your truth both for your own liberation, as well as that of others.