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Somedays

The Steele Stars Performing 'Go For the Gold'
Somedays, you are reminded how lucky you are. You are reminded how beautiful the world is and how unique your role in it is.

Today was one of those days - powerful because of its simplicity, purity, and raw passion. That special blend of forces most often found in children. That exuberant enthusiasm for life - that fearlessness to not just dream but to believe in dreams.

The morning required planning. We had to be up early to record our heart-rates, pee in our cups, and pack our bag for the days activities. So after wiping away the eye-sleepies, we headed to breakfast, nourished ourselves with some grub (and the ever so needed cup of joe) then headed for a meeting with Peter, the man of mindfulness, our sports psychologist.

Peter surprised us today. He didn't make us sit and be mindful, like he usually does. He told us to take off our shoes and stand on a foot wide styrofoam balance beam. I cursed myself for wearing dirty socks. Katie O'donnell and I flanked the left end of beam. Peter then informed us of our task, to arrange ourselves in height order without touching the ground.

Not a strategic move to stand next to OD; she is the shortest, and I am the tallest. It took a while, but we managed the task by crawling under, stepping over, and offering a balanced hand to our teammates. We finished with only seconds to spare.  Our discussion of the activity led to some pertinent conclusions about how to anchor our attention on our individual roles, and how that focus leads to outcome success.

With Peter's session concluded, we quickly changed into our uniforms, packed the vans and headed to Steele Elementary School, the home of the Stars, for what the USADA organizers termed a "character enrichment" program.

 It far surpassed enrichment, it was inspiration. Not by us, but for us, from the children. They welcomed us with a passionate chant of USA, eager high fives, and engaged eyes.  They listened to us as we spoke about character, sportmanship, and field hockey. They cheered for us when we played a 5v5 on gruesome grass pitch. They rallied us to Go for Gold. They sang for us an incredible song that moved some to chills and others to tears.

They reminded us how lucky we are. Not just to do what we do, but to be on their team. Because at the days end, we are all on the same team - fighting to make the best of ourselves in order to make the best of our world.

Somedays, you just can't help but smile. Because you know what an amazing life this is.

Check out the news coverage of our amazing visit to Steele Elementary here: http://youtu.be/Z4wE7GGk318

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