Feb 17
“It Ain’t About How Hard You Hit”
I sat on the couch with Eleanor watching some figure skating in the 2022 winter Olympics.
Growing up in South Carolina, things like ice skating, downhill skiing, curling, basically any sport that requires below freezing temperatures is not something we have much experience with. So it’s really fun to watch world class competition in winter sports.
The times we have made it to the local ice rink as a family have been fun, but I am under zero illusion that I have any chance of even skating backwards successfully with figure skates, let alone anything more complex than that.
And we watched as Zhu Yi started her routine.
A 19 year old representing China in the Olympics.
The best of the best, starting her routine on the ice.
And disaster struck.
On her second jump, she fell.
It’s easy to critique from the couch, right? Oh, she should have done this/that/something different and she would have landed it.
Or to gloat that another competitor is down, making it that much easier for my team to succeed.
We watched as Zhu Yi got up and continued her routine. Now slightly more wobble in the skates than before.
Her next jump, the unthinkable happened when she fell. Again.
And we watched her rise back up and continue skating.
Her face had no smile. No sparkle showing as she glided on the ice.
Then, for a third time, she fell.
And unbelievably, she got up. And continued skating.
Zhu Yi, an elite figure skater, who succeeded to win her spot in the Olympics in a country of well over 1 billion people, kept going to finish her routine. Even with THREE separate falls.
Knowing that so many people would see her failure, knowing that she had zero chance of placing in the medals, knowing that couch skaters would call her out as a disgrace, knowing that people would say she had no business being there in the first place…
She persevered.
She. Did. Not. Quit.
She got back up, and kept skating.
We have all seen the photo of the person digging for gold who quits just feet away from hitting it big.
But what about the times where we know we have failed? And not small. We fall on our face in a big way, on a big stage…
In a sport where hundredths of a point can mean the difference between 1st and 2nd place, Zhu Yi knew she was out of the competition after the first fall.
Yet…she continued.
Had it been me ice skating, I would have run straight off the ice, red faced and in tears. Embarrassing myself in front of untold millions of people is pretty much my worst nightmare.
But she stuck it out.
I know it’s cliched, but cliches come from some piece of truth…Quitters never win. And winners never quit.
To quote the 20th century philosopher Balboa — “It ain’t about how hard you can hit. It’s about how hard you can GET hit and keep going.”
No matter what area of life, whether figure skating, family, real estate, business, whatever…
Life will punch you. Straight up sucker punch you.
Because that’s how life works. It hits hard. And it feels unfair. And it hurts.
It’s what happens next that separates the ones that leave a legacy from the ones that fade from memory.
Zhu Yi got back up. THREE TIMES!!!
She is proving that she can take a hit and keep going. And take another hit and still persevere.
How many hits can you take?
One? Three? Ten?
No telling how many times life will hit you with a sucker punch.
The only thing certain is your commitment to get back up and keep moving forward.
That is what separates those who achieve great things from the rest.
How many times are you willing to be knocked down in order to achieve your dream?
