A post-lockdown reflection
Olympics, Prince Harry, Sheila, Alex Morgan, and Ted Lasso....
It was fortuitous the Olympic Games were on during Adelaide鈥檚 recent lockdown and I could draw inspiration from all these athletes (here are some sports-related motivational quotes from a previous post.) It鈥檚 probably inconsequential news here in 最新糖心Vlog听but being a woman of colour, the reports about 30-year-old Hidilyn Diaz winning the Philippines鈥檚 first gold medal after 97 years of participating in the Games is an awe-inspiring, underdog story! Her 鈥渙vernight鈥 success took 13 years. In 2008, she was second to last in her division and she did not even finish during the London 2012 Games. She won the silver medal during the 2016 Games in Rio and now during the 2020/21 Tokyo Games, she鈥檚 finally earned the gold medal for weightlifting. How proud I am that the first Olympic gold medal awarded to a Filipino is a woman. It was a much-needed reminder as well that success is not achieved overnight.听
鈥淚t鈥檚 not the title that makes you, it鈥檚 not the success that makes you, the character defines the success. Championships are not won in the theatre or the arena. They鈥檙e won in the thousands of hours in the training room, in the labs, in the 5.00am runs and it鈥檚 raining and everyone鈥檚 sleeping. That鈥檚 when it鈥檚 won.鈥Unknown
I remember those 5.00am runs as a footballer (okay soccer) for my high school鈥檚 varsity team. I remember that when I started as a freshman, our team was at the bottom of the ladder. We even had a match where we were beaten really听badly, 0-7. It was extremely embarrassing but surprisingly not very painful - physically or emotionally. You see, we had a great team听led by a brilliant coach. We had each other鈥檚 back and communicated extraordinarily well with each other, but our football skills still needed a bit of work. All we needed was grit and lots of practice to perfect our skills. By the time I was a senior in high school, our team was Number 2 in the听league and most of us were being recruited and being offered athletic scholarships for university.听
鈥淔ootball is life, and football is death, and sometimes football is football. But mostly, football is life.鈥Dani Rojas from the Ted Lasso series
I鈥檝e written a previous post on the Ted Lasso series (I鈥檓 a huge fan) and season 2 has just started. I don鈥檛 want to provide any spoilers - I already know of two people who are waiting for the entire series to come out so they can watch it one go. If you鈥檙e having a mild case of performance anxiety or you鈥檙e experiencing a bit of imposter syndrome, watch the first episode of season 2. PhD is life, and PhD is death, and sometimes PhD is just PhD. But mostly, PhD is life. #PhDlife
Aside from keeping up with the Olympics and catching up on Ted Lasso, I also took a peak at听this new comedy series,听笔丑测蝉颈肠补濒,听starring Rose Byrne听who plays the role of a stay-at-home mum named Sheila. I鈥檝e only seen a couple of episodes and feel a bit intrigued to watch a few more听despite some unfavourable reviews from critics. It may be triggering听for some as Sheila鈥檚 journey towards self-discovery involves working through her relationship with food. I won鈥檛 say too much more about the episode听itself but the few episodes I have seen evoked contemplations of how many of us can seem 鈥渇ine鈥 on the outside but may well be seething on the inside. It turned my mind to the notion of negative self-talk and then I questioned how much of that I engaged in each day.听
What is the negative thought you have about yourself? Prince Harry鈥檚 response to this question in the documentary series, The me you can鈥檛 see is, 鈥淚t鈥檚 being helpless鈥. Although the series tackled hefty and exigent topics, it was stimulating, especially as a psychology student. It reminded me that thoughts and feelings come and go and it鈥檚 important to allow them to come and go. We need to be able to sit with the uncomfortable thoughts and feelings, observe how they make us feel, and to let them go. (Note: If you feel you need some help with this, contact Counselling Support. They also have helpful resources on their website.)
鈥淭he mental piece is huge. It鈥檚 even greater than the physical piece.鈥Alex Morgan from The Greatness Code series
We were only really locked down for seven days (and I鈥檓 really grateful), but I feel so relieved we are slowly and safely re-emerging from our physical nooks again. Although it was enjoyable to indulge in quite a bit of television, I almost feel dreary with the more than usual amount of 鈥渨atching鈥. Although there are plenty of notable shows out there, I need a break from 鈥渃onsuming鈥 and going to gear up again from creating and active engaging.听
听