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Reflections - Sport for Peace and Development

Sat, 02/13/2010 - 21:31 — office

Our Olympic experience began yesterday with the Sport for Peace and Development Conference hosted by UBC and Right To Play. On the day of the Opening Ceremonies it was fitting to be reflecting on the role of sport for peace and development.

 

Stephen Lewis spoke about his conversion to the idea of support in the most disadvantaged places in the world; Johann Koss, founder of Right To Play had me in tears talking about the role of sport to shape human beings, and how sport and play builds hope in the most disadvantaged children. Benjamin, a young man who had spent most of his childhood in place of conflict, reminded me of the disparities of our realities.

 

Here I was, awaiting the evenings Opening Ceremonies with my kids, while other children were fleeing war and conflict.

 

Olympic Nostalgia

Thu, 02/11/2010 - 19:33 — office

Today’s Olympic related activities include making a big banner with the kids saying “We Believe—In You.” My son wants to hold it up at the Opening Ceremonies for the athletes to see from the infield.  Here is something that has just occurred to me. I have never been to the Opening Ceremonies.  Ever.  When I was competing the Olympic Ceremonies always happened the day before I started competing and I concluded they would be too distracting and exhausting.  Part of me now is wondering what the heck I was thinking. But I was a high-strung athlete who got really, really nervous before races.  I don’t know if I had a superstition about the Opening Ceremonies but I really believed they had the potential to hinder my performance.  In 1992, the year I smashed my leg just ten weeks before the Olympics, Ken Read who was Chef de Mission in Barcelona, came to see me and ask if I would carry the flag.  What an honour that would have been, I am sure a thrill I would have never forgotten, but I just couldn’t see myself handling the excitement and the heat, the waiting and the mental distraction of doing anything but healing.  All sorts of accommodations were offered, but with my days divided between two rows and physio and sleeping off the exhaustion of healing, I declined the once in a lifetime opportunity.

 Last night I had dreams of competing in the Olympics at forty-five, and not having time to prepare properly (presumably because I was raising two kids!).  I woke up feeling like I had messed up an opportunity all the while knowing I had made the right choices on spending my time working and with my kids, rather than training.  I guess all of this build up for the Olympics is causing me some nostalgia.  

 It is hard to argue that my decision to not carry the flag in Barcelona was the right one.  I won the Bronze Medal by a smidgen, needing every ounce of energy I had.

 In 36hrs Clara Hughes will be carrying the flag for Canada into the Opening Ceremonies.  I can’t think of a better choice than Clara, a woman who has competed and won medals in Summer and Winter Games, an athlete who wrote JOY on her hand before winning her Gold Medal in Torino, a spokesperson and champion for kids through her work at Right to Play.  She is an exceptional athlete and a fine person, and my kids and I will be cheering her and the entire team on as they walk into the stadium tomorrow full of dreams and determination.  Go Canada Go!

Silken

 

The Games Begin

Thu, 02/11/2010 - 05:23 — office

As the Olympics descend upon us, the critics of these Olympic and Paralympic Games in Vancouver are being drowned out by slogans of “ We Believe”, “Go Canada Go” and “Own the Podium”. We can almost taste the medals “we” are going to win, and we can be promised stories of courage, overcoming the odds, and sheer and awe inspiring excellence. The Olympics are here and let’s enjoy the inspiration and performances to the fullest. My son William is tripping over himself with joy. These Olympics are his Disneyland; in fact we put the money we had stored away for that trip into tickets for these Games. Even with a few items, the trip will be anything but cheap, but I know the memories and inspiration for my kids will last a lifetime.

 Not surprisingly both my kids William and Kate are Olympics crazy. When I confirmed that we had tickets to Snowboard Cross my son literally screamed with joy; Kate knows the colours of the rings represent all the colours in the flags of the world, and they both have a strong sense of the history of the modern Olympic Games.
 
But mostly, they love the athletes. Kate can’t wait to see Jennifer Heil go for gold again in Freestyle Skiing. William won’t be watching any hockey live, but he is passionate about the players and knows Canada is going to win Gold. When the Games were awarded to Canada I was still carrying little Kate almost everywhere; on Friday they will descend upon Vancouver as Olympic fans, as kids who won the Olympic lottery and have tickets to multiple events including the Opening Ceremonies. Now, their mom being a four-time Olympian, they are going to be dragged to media interviews, they have a whole day of sitting in the Sport for Peace and Development conference I am speaking at with Right to Play, but even these experiences will be memorable and enriching.
 
And I know, they already get it, they get how special it is that they can actually be there. They get that watching an athlete compete is a moment in time that will never be repeated, they get that a lifetime of hope and dreams fall upon one finite moment. My kids are creating a poster to hold at events that says “We Believe---In You!!!” We came up with it in the car yesterday when I talked to my kids about the pressure the athletes are facing right now, and how we all, in our own way, can encourage them. 
 
I am profoundly grateful that my kids will have the experience of the Games in Canada in their lifetime. I know it will open their eyes to possibility, not just of being athletes, but also about having dreams and going for them with all you’ve got. 
 

Taking Action on Fear

Tue, 01/26/2010 - 20:58 — office

2010 began with a surge of creative energy and deep determination to move ahead on the projects I have been talking about doing for months. Some of these projects are the clear your desk and clean the garage kind of stuff; but most of the energy I am finding is to tackle some of the projects that I have been afraid to move ahead on, through lack of confidence or fear of the work involved. A book, for instance, has been percolating in my head, but now it is moving to writing a series of articles that will begin to shape the book and create something concrete to show publishers. I love being in this energy, and I am aware that the energy came from facing my fear.

 In the past few years I have let go of a lot of mental blocks that have been holding me back, a belief that I am somehow limited in what I am able to write about, a belief that I am not a writer because I don’t write great works of fiction, or the insidious belief that I am not organized enough to accomplish my dreams. All of this against massive evidence that not only am I capable, I am already living many of my dreams.   Kind of makes me mad when I think of the amount of time spent in self-doubt and self-criticism. 
 
It turns out I am not alone. The vast majority of people are not pursuing the very thing that would make them deeply satisfied. They are not going for that promotion, they are not writing that book in the evening hours, they are not changing direction in their business, not because they are lazy, but because they are afraid.
 
Fear, the word we don’t talk much about in sport and certainly don’t admit to with our sales managers; is a powerful emotion affecting our ability to live the life we want. Everybody feels fear; it is a natural emotion that arises when we push ourselves outside our comfort zone. I feel afraid when I sing in public, even though I rowed in front of millions of people. I feel afraid when I pitch a new article to an editor I have never met, or even to ones that I have. 
 
Below are some strategies I find useful in managing my fear and getting on with the business of living my life to the fullest. It is important to remember that working through fear is not an endpoint; it is a constant process that intensifies when we are making changes and taking risks in our life. 
 
Make a List of Your Fears – what are you afraid of? Give it a name, make it specific.
 
Listen to Your Voices – what are those negative voices saying, and instead of telling them to shut up, replace them with opposite messages.
 
Check in With Your Body – all sorts of things happen to your body when you are afraid; your breathing changes, you perspire, your stomach can feel knotted. Check in with your body, take a few breaths, tell yourself everything will be ok, and your body will begin to respond.
 
Think about What You Want - Visualize what you want, how it will be, get excited about your dreams and this energy will help you push past your fear.
 
Take Action - any action towards your goals and dreams have the effect of lessoning the fear. Action is the ultimate power against the demon of fear.

Left Behind

Mon, 11/23/2009 - 21:18 — office

Recently I worked alongside another Canadian athlete, also a woman, whose athletic careers and early professional careers have paralleled mine. She is now entrenched in sport policy, the Olympic Games, national and international sport boards and has built a remarkable and successful career through hard work and focus.

For a few moments, while in her presence, I felt a wave of inadequacy. I was struck by a fear I had turned my back on once in a lifetime opportunities. Why didn’t I do more in the world of sport after my athletic career ended, why haven’t I entrenched myself in sport policy, or in increasing opportunities for women, or coaching our next team of champions?
 
The answer is both simple and complex. Simply, I wanted to explore different talents and abilities, and sport no longer captured my imagination in the way it had for two decades. I wanted to write, and to paint, and to make a deep and meaningful contribution to the world. I wanted to cast away the image of disciplined, muscled and jockish, and explore the other parts of who Silken was.
 
For many years I saw who I was as contrary to what I experienced in sport. Reflecting from where I am today, I see that sport is as interwoven into my life as intricately, and as permanently, as the muscles in my body. I have and will always have rowers arms, as my body has been shaped by years of pulling on an oar, so has my mind, my character and my way of seeing the world.   It is sport that taught me to have dreams and make those dreams real by setting goals. The dreams I have today for my life are no longer as high profile, but they are as meaningful as any Olympic dream I had in the past. My passion to be my best, found a home on the river, rowing a wooden boat. This passion imbues all areas of my life today and it is what makes me a powerful speaker and motivator. Passion to be all that I can be comes from the very core of my being, its power has been reinforced through years of high intensity sport, and passion is what again and again, leads me to my next calling or incarnation. The passion to speak, the passion to write, the passion to parent, and recently, the passion to paint.
 
So back to meeting my fellow Olympian, and the emotions it evoked. Humans, especially women, have a tendency to compare themselves to others. Is she slimmer, is she more successful, is she more intelligent? This habit of comparison, takes accomplishment out of the context of the personal decisions, choices and aptitudes that brings one person to be a commentator and another to write books. The complex choices I have made have involved my children and my absolute commitment not to miss their childhood. They involve an honest exploration of my talents, as well as a realistic look at lifestyle considerations.   All of these factors have brought me to the place where I am at today. I love my life. I simply needed somebody to remind me that I am exactly where I am supposed to be. …Silken
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Olympic Blog Posts

As a former Olympian and one of Canada’s best-known personalities, Silken brought her unique perspective to her blog posts about the Vancouver Winter Olympics. Since the excitement of the Olympic Torch's arrival, (that's Silken in the photo, with her torch and her children, William and Kate) she blogged right through to the closing ceremonies. Read her first post here.

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