Redefining Success for Yourself

imagine practicing

for eight hours a day seven days a week

attempting a skill hundreds or thousands

of times

to get it to perfection like this

seems pretty hard doesn’t it

now imagine doing all this for a whole

day

except only drinking water for breakfast

lunch

and dinner this is the reality

of that so many rhythmic gymnasts face

in their pursuit

of success when i was seven

i fell in love with the brilliant ball

the dazzling ribbon and the graceful

jumps

turns and balances of rhythmic

gymnastics

it was a perfect combination of artistry

beauty and strength and i thought it was

the most beautiful sport in the world

plus it is a great way for me to unleash

the energy

of my seven-year-old always restless and

jumpy self

i would memorize and obsess over every

world and olympic

champions brilliantly crafted routines

that were so smoothly coordinated with

their apparatus

in spite of sweat tears and pain

my goal always remain constant to look

like them

to perform like them and to achieve

success

just like them and i saw nothing but

pure perfection

within the sport

two years ago i had the chance to be at

the same competition

as the ukrainian national team who might

idolized for years

i was so excited

but what i saw that day wasn’t the

perfection that i’d expected

i saw their faces stained with tears

later i found out why they hadn’t eaten

after a whole day of grueling training

all they had was water

this moment reminded me of a few years

ago when i watched the documentary

winner takes it all pain and gain of

russian rhythmic gymnasts

olympic gold medalist alina cabayeva

said that days before competition

all she had was water for breakfast

water for lunch and water for dinner

i remember that back then when i was

young i admired and was inspired by

their grit

and determination but now i started to

doubt these sacrifices

did it have to be this way was this the

only path

to success

in the rhythmic gymnastics world the

idea that thinness correlates directly

to beauty

is so deeply ingrained in our culture

and in everyone’s mind

and that being as thin as possible is

the

is a necessary component to success

but is this price worth it risking

your mental and physical well-being to

pursue a vision of success

that has been defined by others not

yourself

i began looking at and unveiling this

exterior oversimplified curtain of

success

among elite rhythmic gymnasts revealing

body image issues

and eating disorders

but i found that these issues extended

beyond just

high-level gymnasts i deployed a survey

and received responses from over 800

gymnasts

across over 50 different countries

there were elite gymnasts like world

champions from europe

but there were also normal gymnasts from

everywhere from south africa

to hungary to malaysia and there were

young

11 year old girls but there are also 40

to 50 year old retired rhythmic gymnasts

and nearly all of them responded

similarly

76.2 percent of rhythmic gymnasts

said that their mental health had been

compromised

69.1 percent of rhythmic gymnasts

said that they felt depressed because of

the sport

that’s nearly three out of four gymnasts

are these sacrifices really worth it

i began reaching out to these gymnasts

who responded

interviewing them and listening to many

heartbreaking stories

one rhythmic gymnast from poland said

she began cutting herself

after she developed bulimia a result of

the insults

mockery and pressure she received

because of her weight

she said i thought i was going to die

but i was happy i could feel lighter

another gymnast from canada said i did

all of those things just to fit into

what we are told is ideal for the sport

i thought that this was just part of the

journey

the idea of risking ourselves to pursue

an image of success defined by others

sounds familiar well

this problem extends far beyond just

rhythmic gymnastics

in our society many of us believe

that extreme sacrifice is the only path

towards a loose and oftentimes

superficial definition of success

that we must do more and more clubs more

and more competitions more and more

activities

take on harder classes harder jobs

harder responsibilities

until we have no time to breathe no time

to relax

our minds and our bodies until all we

can think about is what more we have to

do

what more we can do instead of pausing

and congratulating ourselves for what

we’ve already accomplished

and ironically once we’ve achieved the

supposed image of success

we’ve often times lost so much and

risked so much of ourselves

that were discontent dissatisfied

disappointed rhythmic gymnasts who had

anorexia nervosa body dysmorphia

binge eating disorder and bulimia said

because of weight issues i have

developed depression anxiety

c ptsd and insomnia

all my first place titles all my

national titles

and all my friendships that i’ve made i

would give those

all away in a heartbeat just to be happy

now don’t get me wrong in order to

accomplish or achieve anything

we must push ourselves we must sacrifice

but are the trade-offs always worth it

is this even the success that i want

and how do we balance the pursuit of

success

with the maintenance of our personal

wellness

and more importantly today i want you

all to ask yourself this

what does success really mean to me

is this the success that i want or is it

simply what society is telling me

that i want it’s time to change

as individuals and as a society and it’s

time to change

for the goodness of ourselves and also

for the goodness of everyone around us

thank you

you