The 2018 Winter Olympics are now in our collective rear-view mirrors. There were so many memorable moments and if you tuned in, you probably had your favorites. Did you stay up until the wee hours of the morning to watch the Women's Hockey team capture the Gold medal? Were you as exhilarated as I was to watch Mikaela Shiffrin win the Women's Giant Slalom and 17-year old Red Gerard win the US's first Olympic medal when he took the Gold in the Snowboarding Slopestyle? Perhaps you tuned in to watch the extremely entertaining banter between NBC's Figure Skating Analysts Tara Lipinski and Johnny Weir, two former world champions themselves. Whatever your take-away was from the games, we can probably all agree that there were many inspiring messages and stories that we can learn from the elite athletes who represented our country so well.
For me, the most meaningful message came from a 23-year old freestyle aerial skier from Rochester, NY who did not medal at the Olympics but showed the world what a true champion he is. Jonathon (Jon) Lillis overcame a recent family tragedy to make the United States Olympic Ski Team . Jon's younger brother Mikey, who was also a freestyle competitive skier, died unexpectedly and suddenly in his sleep 4 months before the Olympics. It would have been completely understandable if Jon had decided not to compete in the Olympics this year. He and Mikey were extremely close - they trained together at the Olympic Training Center in Lake Placid and shared the same dream since childhood of competing in the Olympics. Jon decided that he would compete at the Pyeongchang games in honor of his brother's memory and he kept his brother's Olympic dream alive by adding the hashtag #JumpingforMikey on every one of his social media posts. Jon wore Mikey's skiing uniform when he competed and even wore a blue, oval pendant around his neck that contained some of Mikey's ashes.
I was extremely emotional watching Jon compete, but I was especially touched when I heard him interviewed afterwards. He said: "I think that when you are having really tough times in your life, it is important to find that ladder that helps you climb out." For Jon, losing Mikey was impossibly difficult, but finding the ladder was easy...skiing, which was always such an important part of his family's life, became his therapy and his medicine for healing. It was quite obvious to me that Jon had more than just a ladder to help him climb out of the darkness...he was surrounded with many people who were by his side and were there holding that ladder for him . His loving and devoted family (the same family who had relocated their home so their sons could competitively train and live out their dreams), was right there by his side through grief, recovery and ultimate triumph.
Each one of us has a story to tell...something that has rocked us to our core and presented us with a tremendous challenge. The question is - have we discovered what "our ladder" is? ...the thing that fills you up, soothes your soul, and gives you the passion and the purpose you need to carry on. Once we find that ladder, it is equally as important to surround ourselves with people who would be there to hold the ladder and keep us steady and upright.When we are down and out, or in the depths of despair, we not only need something to lean into, but also people to lean on . We don't have to push ourselves as hard as an Olympic athlete in order to overcome something. It isn't necessary to break a new world record or strap on the skis and fly to new heights. What we need to do is reach down deep and find what motivates and inspires us...the very thing which will help us to heal. Just like the way that Jon Lillis overcame his darkest hour by working hard to "stick the landing" at the Olympics,when we find our ladder and designate a person to hold it for us, we will have achieved a victory for ourselves that is better than Gold, Silver or Bronze.