Day 18: Practicing Hope

Hope is like any other skill—we have to practice it to get better at it.

I watched as much of the summer Olympics as I could this year. For the first time that I can remember, I wished I was in Paris for the games. It looked beautiful there. So much pomp and circumstance. So much creativity from the opening ceremonies to the closing. So many incredible athletes. I couldn’t get enough.

I’ll admit that I’m not a big fan of swimming and diving, so I would have preferred a little less of that. But I, of course, loved watching women’s basketball, and I loved all the gymnastics—women’s and men’s.

Sometimes watching gymnastics makes me nervous—especially the floor exercises. I hate it when they fall. So much preparation gone in an instant. I felt better about it and was able to relax some after I learned that the Olympics, although a big deal, is just one of a number of competitions most of these athletes participate in throughout the year. So sometimes, they have an off day. Even superstars like Simone Biles, the most decorated gymnast of all time—male or female—with 11 Olympic medals and 30 World Championship medals has an off day. But obviously she hasn’t had too many bad days given she’s done all this at the ripe old age of 27!

Biles started competing at age 14 and despite numerous injuries from bone spurs to the “twisties,” she’s a relentless competitor. Even when she reported being sexually assaulted by the USA Gymnastics physician, she didn’t quit. Instead, at the 2018 U.S. National Championships, Biles wore a teal leotard that she had designed as a statement of unity to honor the survivors of the physician’s abuse and then went on to win the overall title for the competition. Following that, she took on the entire gymnastics world she grew up in when she testified to “the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee that she blamed ‘the entire system’ for enabling and perpetuating Nassar's crimes, saying that USA Gymnastics and the United States Olympic and Paralympic Committee ‘failed to do their jobs.’”¹

What a fighter!

I can only image that there have been times in Biles career when she was close to giving up hope. Would she recover from an injury? Would she have the mental mindset to overcome the horrors of the sexual abuse experience? Would she be able to keep up with older gymnasts and then, in more recent years, with the younger ones?

At the 2024 Olympics, Biles didn’t win the floor exercises or the balance beam—two of her top events. How did she feel after not medaling or coming in second place in an event she’d worked so hard on? Was she defeated? Did she give up hope? Somehow, she kept at it. Ultimately, she came home with three gold and one silver medal. Not bad for a loser.

The lesson I take from watching Simone Biles is that if I’m confident that I’ve prepared as well as I can for whatever it is, I can’t fail. It doesn’t mean I might not lose, but I can’t fail. There’s a difference that matters.

I’m not a gymnast. Although I love basketball, when I played in college, I was a mediocre player at best. It didn’t mean I didn’t love doing it, I just didn’t expect to become a star. So, I’m not applying this lesson to my athletic prowess. I’m applying it to my life. When I set a goal, when I dream of something I want to do, the preparation I put into it is what determines whether or not I’ll fail.

It took me thirteen years to write and finally publish my memoir, Living Into the Truth: A Daughter’s Journey of Discovery. I hoped I would finish it, but I didn’t know for sure. What I learned pretty quickly was that hoping wasn’t enough. I needed to learn a lot about writing before I felt confident that I was telling the story I wanted to tell in a way that people would want to read it. It took a lot of practice, falling down, picking myself up, and trying again. I finally succeeded. Although I don’t expect to win any gold medals for it, I’m proud of what I produced. And I can honestly say that writing isn’t nearly as intimidating as it once was. As Biles says, “I just try to relax and let my preparation take over.” It works.

Hope is a skill just like any other—a skill to be practiced, a skill that we succeed at some times and fail at other times. But just like Biles needs to build her muscles, hope is a muscle too that needs to be built.

I’m going to keep practicing it as best I can in the months and years to come. I know I won’t always medal in the Hope Olympics, but I still plan to compete. I hope you’ll compete with me.

Today’s Reflections

Have you ever considered the idea of practicing hope? What are some things you can do to make hope more a conscious part of your life so it’s there when you need it?

Make a list of five things that you can do when you’re feeling hopeful that you can refer to in times when hope is more of a struggle to find. Please share your list!

With hope in my heart,

Annette

1. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Simone_Biles#Career-related_injuries_and_health