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