So Much Pressure!!

Did anyone else watch the Olympic Women's Gymnastics last night?? The five girls competing are the best in the entire United States.  One of them, Jordyn Wieber, was heavily favored to win Olympic Gold for the Individual All-Around Final title.  Unfortunately, she missed qualifying for one of the two spots.  It was heartbreaking to watch her after she saw the scoreboard and knew she didn't make it.  She was so upset, she started crying.  I'm sure all the moms out there, and especially Jordyn's mom wanted to give her a gigantic hug and say everything is going to be okay.  The last thing in the world she wanted/needed were people taking pictures of her and shoving a microphone in her face. The hours, weeks, months and years it takes to make it to the Olympics are mind boggling. It isn't part of your life, it is your entire life.  Lauren did competitive gymnastics for a handful of years.  She trained about nine hours a week to prepare for competitions. It didn't matter if Lauren did a perfect routine in practice a bunch of times, it only mattered what you did at the competitions.  When I would sit in the stands and watch her, only one word can describe it, INTENSE! I can't even imagine what it must be like for those five girls' parents, watching their daughters fly high into the air, doing back flips and front flips, back handsprings and back tucks!!   When they perform, they have to be perfect, no wobbling, no falling.  SO MUCH PRESSURE!!!!  I was telling Lauren that the gymnasts are all around her age. In the end, they are just teenage girls. I'm confident that once Jordyn Wieber shakes all of this off, she will be giving 200% in the coming week.  Gymnastics is one of those sports that is individual, but very much a team sport.  She is part of a talented group of amazing gymnasts that I'm sure will do well :) GO TEAM USA!!!