When I was a little girl my mom quickly noticed that I was very active and liked to jump around and dance around the house. It was then that she decided to enroll me in mommy-and me classes. Most girls do it when they are young, it is a place for kids to have fun; where they can exercise and it definitely involves a little bit of gymnastics. These classes were always the highlight of my day. When I was four, after a suggestion from one of the teachers, my mom began taking me to gymnastics lessons. I fell in love with the sport after the first day. I started competing at age four; little did I know that it would become part of my heart, part of my life. Gymanstics would define me as a person. Every year I would compete in competions all over the state, each year moving up a level. I competed until I was 16 years old, at a level 9 competition level. Although I loved the sport, I will tell you it was not easy. I would practice every day, Monday through Saturday for four to six hours a day. While my friends were going to the mall, and birthday parties I was at the gym training. I knew that competing at such a high level, came with a price. However I often wondered if the price was too much? I never got to hang out with my friends unless it was school and did not have the luxury of relaxing and just hanging out with friends and family. I would wake up at 6am, get ready for school, go to school till 3, and then go straight to gymnastics where I would train from 4 till 9 at night. And then after all that I would have to go home and do homework. There were some days when I just wanted to quit and give it all up so I could have somewhat of a normal life. However, every weekend I would go and compete and saluting the judges, performing with people yelling my names and standing up on the podium with a first place trophy---that was what I lived for and made me remember how much I loved the sport and how close it was to my heart. Unfortunately, I had to quit because of back and wrist injuries. At the time I was honestly relieved. I was ecstatic to have the luxury of hanging out with friends on the weekend, coming home and just lounging around and watching T.V., going to parties….it seemed like life was just going be so much easier. I didn’t have to worry about my next routine and I certainly didn’t have to worry about the pressure of it all. For the first few months I was so happy, I was finally able to “have a life.” I was bitter about having to quit and wouldn’t let my parent mention the words gymnastics. However, after years and years of a bittersweet feeling, I was finally able to let go of the anger and appreciate what I accomplished. Although I don’t regret quitting gymnastics, watching videos of me performing and seeing the determination and love for the sport in my eyes makes me wish I could go back in time and do it all over again. It makes me really miss the sport. I realize that I would give up going to parties and having a social life to compete again, which is something I thought I would never say.
When it comes to something you love, is their a price that comes at too high a cost?
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