Mirror Mirror

Just because the outside soccer has stalled temporarily, it does not mean that I have stopped contemplating about things that I believe influence the ability to compete. My inspiration often comes from the strangest of places, but anyone with children would concede that they are often an excellent source of the most profound thoughts. I was with my two-year-old at her gymnastics the other day, and I was struck with an epiphany of sorts.

As with most gymnastics gyms, there are a number of mirrors that cover one entire wall. My daughter was getting ready to mount the low balancing exercise when she caught a glimpse of herself in the mirror. She watched herself walk to the beam and then attempted to make the step up to where the balance beam was. She awkwardly managed to get up continuing to hold her gaze on her own reflection. She tried then to navigate the beam and it was immediately apparent that she was not going to be able to watch herself walk across. She stepped off the side and fell the short drop to the ground. “Watch where you are going,” I encouraged her and as soon as she stopped watching her reflection she was able to walk the entire length of the beam with no issue.

I really don’t think that this small episode is too unlike the struggles that many athletes face when they are working to compete in a team sport. It is very easy, especially with cultural influences that promote individualism, to become too focused on what you are doing as an individual athlete. Of course it is extremely important how you choose to motivate yourself, how hard you train and the individual choices you make, but when it comes to competing, the best athletes on a team are those who are able to shift the gaze from the mirror to the task before them. To see the world around them as a part of their own experience, but that they are only a part and not the entire action.

I admit that there have been times in my life, and as a competing athlete, where my focus was too selfish and to be honest, by game suffered. When I finally pulled my gaze away from my own reflection I was better able to see what I was intended to do and it made me a much better teammate. There are some athletes who are able to compete looking at their reflection the entire time, but imagine how much better they would be if they saw the whole picture.