Episode #15: What Do We Celebrate?

Transcript

On this episode of The Simply Brilliant Show, we're coming to you live from the most beautiful waterfront property in Brooklyn. This episode we're going to talk about what do we celebrate, what sports and championship is all about, and really try to keep things in perspective using sports and athletics as an example. So, the first thing I want to talk about is the fact that it's March 9th and it's 72 degrees out here in Manhattan. I'm actually wearing flip-flops, you can't see it but I'm going to show you. So ski season, which I think you know at this point is a significant part of our family's activities, recreation, and also athletics, is pretty much coming to a halt.

That said, this prior weekend my daughter Natasha competed in what's called the "Kandahar Champs" for 12 years old and under, and it's basically the New York State championships for 12 and under. And she did quite well. She finished all of her races, she had really good times, I think she finished 20th in the state, which we're really proud of. But most importantly when this was all said and done, she hugged her friends, she had a great time, was a great experience with her friends, her team, with her family, and it was absolutely wonderful, and she said, "I'm really proud of myself," which I just thought was remarkable and mature and to not be disappointed with the 20th place finish and keeping it in perspective and saying, "Twentieth in the state is actually amazing." And I feel that way too.

And so congratulations to her, but that's not the point of the story. The point of the story is Natasha has a younger sister, younger by I don't know 90 seconds, Victoria. And she too is a very talented skier, however, she didn't compete in the Kandahar Champs because she didn't qualify, and in the four race qualification, she finished three of the races, she was right on the cusp, she might make it, she might not, she might qualify, but in the fourth race where she was really gunning for it, she actually skied out, she lost an edge and she slid out. And what I found remarkable and you'll be looking at the footages that instantly as a reaction, she really just bounced right up and kept going. We've seen many kids who just ski out and say, "Well I didn't make it," or start to you know, just get frustrated and decide they're not going to finish or they finish it, but they're not really trying and if you watch the footage, you can see that as quickly she fell and in that moment of despair and massive frustration she quickly got back right up and continued the race and charged hard and obviously, in a race that's measured in hundredths of a second, you can't really fall and qualify or be at the state level, but the question that I am raising is what do we celebrate, do we celebrate winning, do we celebrate achievement, do we celebrate effort, do we celebrate conviction and doing things for yourself? And so in my own eyes, Victoria is as much a winner as her twin sister Natasha because through the challenge and through the adversity she rose right back to the occasion and she did what she thought was important and what was right and she finished the race and she charged hard.

Now granted she was really disappointed that she didn't make the Kandahar Champs, and as too was the rest of the family and all of her friends and it would've been great to have her there and hopefully she'll make it next year. But I'm incredibly proud as a father to say, "You know what, she gave it her all, she left it all on the snow, she made a mistake and lost an edge, but she was composed and really went through it." And at the end of the Kandahar Champs, which was also the same weekend as the U14, the 14 and unders racing, I saw a lot of I don't know, behavior that I wasn't really thinking was so great. You know, none of these kids I don't believe are going to be Olympians or make any money from ski racing, but they challenge themselves. They go out there in freezing cold conditions on ice, in travel environments where they've never been on the mountain before and they race and they go as fast as they possibly can and they challenge themselves and they overcome fear.

And from an athletic perspective it's really amazing what they're able to accomplish, and then when they don't finish in the top three or they don't pull anywhere in the top 10, I see a lot of kids crying and sobbing and acting in ways that I just don't think is admirable, and so the question that the whole Simply Brilliant Show is premised on is, what are we teaching through these athletics endeavors and competition? And what I would say is neither Natasha nor Victoria are going to be professional skiers, so the fact that they didn't finish in the top three or five is okay with us, but what we are teaching them is resilience and to overcome fear and obstacles and to do things for themselves and to push hard and grit and determination, and that will persist with them through many endeavors in all walks of life through the course of their life. And so I would rather see my children behave like good sports and congratulate the winners and hug their friends and smile and laugh and really enjoy what it is that they're doing, and not be super competitive and hyper focused and then really, really disappointed and all the pressure that I see the kids put on themselves, and the kids' parents putting on them. I mean let's keep this in perspective, they're 11 and 12 years old, this isn't a way out for them, they're not going to be sponsored by anybody, they're not going to be competing. So what are we doing this for and it's for challenge and motivation and for learning and determination and grit, and so I'm really proud of the way that my kids came out of this smiling, happy, hugging, proud of themselves and I just wish that everybody could keep things in perspective.

So, thank you very much for listening, I hope you've enjoyed this episode of Simply Brilliant. I'd encourage you to subscribe and share this with all your friends, and sayonara from a very nice warm 72 degree day in March here at the waterfront in Brooklyn. We'll see you soon, stay tuned.

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