Letting Go of Doing it All

I’ve always loved watching the Olympics. The heart, passion, and grit these athletes present are nothing short of inspiring to watch. And there are usually a handful of inspiring stories that go beyond just the athletic performance and leave a lasting impact, too.

This past week you’ve likely encountered a picture of a man, with glasses, meditating with his eyes closed, and being called “pommel horse guy.”

That guy is Stephen Nedoroscik. He was chosen as a member of the men’s gymnastics team for the exact reason we are reading about, to be our guy on the pommel horse. Thanks to him and his score in this event, our men’s team won the bronze medal in the team competition. Putting an end to a 16-year medal draught in this event.

And thanks to him, we can all breathe a little easier because we can embrace that perhaps we aren’t meant to do it all.

Sure, we see Simone Biles or Sifan Hassan (a Dutch distance runner running the 5000m, 10000m, and marathon races in the Olympics) and it’s inspiring to see their greatness and want to push ourselves to be good at everything we do.

But for most of us, that’s not our reality. And that’s because, for most of us, we aren’t meant to do it all. The more we fight it and try to do it all, the less successful we become in all areas. Whereas, thanks to Nedoroscik, we have a prime example of the greatness that can come from embracing our part, our gifts, and our calling.

That doesn’t mean you can’t push yourself to try new things. And it doesn’t mean you can’t grieve when something you want to work out doesn’t. But, it does mean that you can relinquish the pressure you put on yourself to be or to do everything. Chances are if you let some things go you’ll realize you have much more to offer than when you were trying to do it all.

So, sit in awe when you come across the rare greatness of these athletes that make the once unbelievable our reality to witness. And also embrace gratitude when you see athletes who remind you it’s often the beginning of a beautiful journey when you let things go that aren’t meant for you and fully embrace what is.