It makes me so sad to see the way in which the media has squashed the spirit of a beautiful skater like Gracie Gold. We know she has struggled this season to find her consistency in competition and joy in her skating but hasn’t that happened to all great athletes at one point or another? This time last year she was #1 in the US and moved on to 4th in the World…an incredible accomplishment for a 20 year old skater. She became an International Superstar in the skating world, taking on the stress of that at such a young age. Now, seemingly a superstar has fallen and everyone is making assumptions, predictions and pointing the finger.
When I watch her and listen to her interviews I see a young, fragile girl who is still trying to figure out how to cope with nerves and self-doubt while carrying the expectations of an entire country on her shoulders. Why are we so quick to judge someone while they are down? Is it because secretly we are just happy it isn’t us? Or because when we see someone struggling or suffering it makes us feel better about our own struggles or our own suffering?
What if instead we were to lift each other up?
Gracie Gold is a 21 year old girl first and America’s Skating Sweetheart second. She is a daughter, a sister, a friend, and because she is in the public eye we tend to forget this. She is someone who needs a support team to rally around her not relish in her disappointments.
When we lift each other up everyone wins!
I encourage you to make a conscious decision to not consume and feed into the negative energy being thrown at her. You can do this by holding back your judgement and opinion and instead, sending her positive, hopeful energy that she will turn her skating around. She is a fighter, she can do it!
Hi, I'm Rebekah. I help skaters improve their performance by strengthening their mindset. Please check out my blog, sign up to my mailing list, or follow me on social media for inspiration. 