Mental Moment-What Propels You to Greatness
As many of you know I have just starting rowing. I have been intrigued by it, have fun with it and it scares the s%$@ out of me sometimes. After reading the article Aksana I am reminded of how there are other more challenging feats in life and that sometimes difficult life circumstances help bring elite performers to greatness.
Orphanage & disabilities
Aksana grew up in an orphanage in Ukraine. As a child one of her legs was longer than the other, she had five webbed fingers and lacked thumbs. She had thought that her parents left her because of these things and probably thought she might never be adopted. Around the age of 7 Aksana was adopted by a woman in Buffalo New York. Shortly after her adoption, Aksana had one leg amputated and then the other.
Still, young Oksana adapted well to her prosthetic legs and worked with them as if they were real. After the first amputation, she learned to ice skate. After the second, she rode rides at an amusement park, her legs held in place by a pair of tight jeans. But it was a physical education teacher at her middle school who introduced Oksana to adaptive rowing. At first the 13-year-old wanted nothing to do with the sport. She hated the word “adaptive.” She wanted to do the “real” things. But the PE teacher, Randy Mills, and Gay managed to talk her into trying it, just once.
Rowing
Aksana came to love rowing: the clicking of the oars and when she would feather and square (to feather and square, the rower rotates each oar, turning the blade horizontal while it’s in the air, then turning it vertical before putting it back in the water). For a rower with perfect hands, it takes concentration and precise timing (I can certainly relate). Oksana doesn’t have perfect hands. Surgeons separated her fingers in Ukraine, but they remain short. Gripping the oars causes pain to shoot up her forearms. Sometimes her hands grow so numb she can’t grip anything—not even a water bottle—after practice.
In a little over a year Aksana became a world class rower and is now on the USA Paralympic team.
Moving past difficult life experiences
We all have our own difficult life circumstances to overcome to get to where we are. I know I’ve had mine. What helps people like Aksana move past all of this into a place of ‘greatness’? What goes on mentally? Since Aksana was adopted young it may have been the love and support of her adoptive mother. I would say that for many of my elite performers the love and support they received as kids from their parents is what helped propel them forward. Aksana has a history that may make her an even greater elite performer than most and it’s not her prosthetic legs; it’s her tenacity, strength and ability to be great no matter what lies in her way. As we start the week off, this seems like a good message for you and for me. Just when you think something is difficult, remember that it’s temporary and you can move past it.
What’s propels you to greatness?
Happy Monday!
Dr. Michelle
Photo credit: Simon Bruty
