Personal Narrative: Gymnastics Changed My Life

“Arms up, stay tight, and you better not forget to point your toes.” To this day, the words still echo through my mind, but that’s all that they are, echoes.
Gymnastics is my life, well it once was. My future was stripped away from me in a matter of seconds. I can still vividly recall the feeling of my feet slamming into the wooden bar and my body plummeting eight feet onto my head. I remember laying there so stunned I couldn't move. The pain submerged my body so immensely I felt as if I was drowning, barely being able to breath. In that moment, my life was forever changed. No longer was I able to do the thing that I loved the most, but for my sanity, I couldn’t lose that piece of my life forever. Coaching, I determined, was the only answer to my problem.
“Can we do this instead”, “I hate doing that”, unfortunately these weren’t the voices from my memories. Just weeks into my coaching career I was already beginning to question my decision. I found myself waking up every morning already dreading the day ahead. In the back of my mind I …show more content…
Their negative attitudes and mocking tones left me in a constant state of anger and frustration. My students showed no interest in the sport, and soon, my own diminished. I struggled for two years before I knew it was time for me to move on and let go of the sport that had consumed my childhood. I am not one to give up easily, but no longer could I continue working with kids who did not have the same passion for the sport that I did. I have high standards for myself and for others, and although I had hoped coaching would help me reach them, it was inadequate in doing so. I lowered my expectations time and time again, which neither benefited my students nor myself. I felt disrespected and ignored. I felt my advice was never heard. I felt I was losing sight of my reason to be there. No longer was I confident in my abilities, I felt lost doing the only thing I truly

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