KRTEverybody needs a little motivation in their life to be the best that they can be. No matter what it is that you want to be the best of, something needs to drive you to do better than you did yesterday.
For Misty May, beach volleyball Olympic gold medalist, her motivator was her mother. However, when May competed in Athens she was one fan short in the bleachers. Her mother passed away with cancer recently and was unfortunate to witness her daughter’s victory.
May did not let these circumstances get in her way of her dream of winning gold. It may sound a bit extreme, but May sprinkled some of her mother’s ashes onto the sand of the court. Now she was allowing her mother to be a part of the game, even closer than if she was in the stands. By putting all that she has out on the court, literally, she was able to focus on her goal.
My motivation as an athlete is Michael Phelps. It is not uncommon for swimmers like me to be fascinated with his success. He’s only 19 and he has achieved so much that one can’t even fathom what he will do in four years at the next summer Olympics.
Dedication and determination are the keys to get just one step closer to being number one. They always say, practice makes perfect, well really perfect practice makes perfect. I know that nobody is perfect but breaking world records is close enough for me.
Last year when my alarm would go off at 6 a.m. for swim practice I never pressed the snooze button. Even though getting into a cold pool is the last thing I would want to be doing, I know that I have to in order to improve. To assure myself that this year I will be doing the same, I hung a poster of Phelps on my wall across from my bed. Seeing his poster first thing when I hear the buzzing of my alarm will remind me why I’m doing it. I will see him and know that he too must be waking up early and practicing just as I am. At any level of competition athletes have to push themselves to do what others would consider impossible.
No, the Olympics are definitely not in my future but having a drive to do better is something that every athlete needs, especially Division III athletes.
Division III athletics is a program that is designed to be for those who have a true love for the game or sport that they are involved in. There are no scholarships to be won, no professional future and no gold medals.
Posted to the web by Cecelia Francisco
