Success

This post is a year overdue.  My son is a competitive gymnast and he (and we) learned a lot last season.  About success and perseverance.  I am in awe of the young men in this sport.  Most of the world sees only those at the top, and that only once every four years.  And for sure, the world only values those precious few at the top.  But I am telling you, these kids are champions.

So this story is about success.  It may not look like what you expect.  For example, take a look at this video and tell me if you think this is a successful routine.

Well, was that routine flawless? Was it spectacular? No? Then why, pray tell, is the boy behaving as if he has just won a medal? Why does my friend Ana have goose bumps?

I'll tell you why.

It all comes down to expectations. And goals. It all depends, really, on your definition of success.

This past season my son moved up from level 6 to level 9. That's quite a jump. Was he ready? Maybe, maybe not. But here's the thing. Success is really not about winning. It's not about being the best. It's about being your best. It's about setting goals for yourself and accomplishing those goals.

My son was given a choice by his coaches at the beginning of the season -- he could compete at either level 8 or level 9.  Level 8 would mean more success, outwardly -- fewer competitors, better scores.  But it also would  mean competing alone at most meets, being the lone level 8 gymnast on the team.  Level 9 would mean less chance of success -- more and better competitors, lower scores.  But he would be part of a team (at least 3 are required at the same level to be eligible for a team award), competing with his friends.  He chose level 9.  Of course he did.  We were unsure how he would handle being at the bottom of the pack, instead of at or near the top.  Could he measure his success, not against others, but against himself?

In the first meet of this level 9 season, my son did not even compete on high bar. Because he wasn't ready. His coaches made the decision that it was best he not compete with a routine that just wasn't there yet. I appreciate that decision. I believe this motivated his training and by the next meet he got up on the bar. Was he ready? Maybe not. But he got on the bar. How many times did he fall? More than he wanted. But he improved his previous score (a 0.0) by 6.4 points. Is 6.4 a good score? No... no, it isn't. But were we proud? You better believe it. The boy got up on the bar. And he finished. I've never been prouder.

Until the next meet (the one the video above is from.) His warm up was awesome. He hit his new skills. We all wanted it for him. Competition began and he started his routine. And then he fell off the bar. On a simple, basic skill. In the video you can hear me say, "Oh, crap." (I know... I'm such a good mom.)  I had no idea if he would recover.

But he did what competitive gymnasts do.  He got back on the bar and he finished.  He swung his giants.  He got his body around the bar and he didn't fall.  He landed his dismount.  The celebratory fist pump says it all.  Maybe no one else in that gym realized the success of that routine.  Maybe not the judges.  Maybe not the other gymnasts.  But my son knew.  I knew.  His coach knew.  My friend Ana knew and it gave her goose bumps.

At the end of the regular season of competition, there is a State meet.  How you perform at State determines if you qualify for the Regional meet.  At Regionals, you have the opportunity to qualify for Nationals.  Most of the boys at State will qualify for Regionals, which Jared did.

And here I want to show you another video.  This is a compilation of his routines from the Regional meet, his final meet of the season.

You may not be impressed with what you see.  Because you don't know what I know.  For instance, you don't know that his peach glide on parallel bars was hit-or-miss all season.  You don't even know what a peach glide is.  You also don't know that he consistently fell on his pirouettes.  So you may see a so-so parallel bars routine.  But I see grand success!  You know a little about his hi bar struggles.  At Regionals, he hit the routine and stuck his dismount.  Success!  You also have no idea that this floor routine was the first time he did his double full in competition -- what his coach called his "big boy skill" -- and he put it to his feet.  You may or may not know that pommel horse can be the bane of a gymnast's existence.  It is not uncommon to have 4 or 5 falls off this beast.  As you can see, he only had one fall (zero falls at State, but that's another video and story.)  Rings was kind of ugly there at the end, but I can tell you that he doesn't sit down that dismount anymore.  Finally, it was fitting that he finished on vault.  What you don't know is that he had been working his Tsukahara all season and never could quite land it in competition.  I love that he finished his inaugural level 9 season on this event.  When he landed that vault, the tears welled up within me.

In case you are curious, out of 68 gymnasts in his age group, he placed 63rd.  Is that success?  Maybe not by the world's standards.  But the backwards glance and thumbs up he throws to the camera say it all.  He knows what he did. 

That is success and I couldn't be more proud.