I've had a lot of thoughts juggling around in the old noodle and I wanted to talk about love. I'm a romantic at heart for as long as I can remember. I hope, dream and always hope that the best in people will shine through and for love to win the day.
Well, during the Olympics I happened to catch Tessa Virtue and Scott Moir of Canada performing their ice dancing routine and I was blown away. The chemistry between the two of them was just amazing to see. Haven't seen it? Well, the best that I can do is link to their performance from the 2018 Canadian Skating Nationals.
Tessa Virtue and Scott Moir free dance to "Moulin Rouge" (Image courtesy of TSN)
I wish I could show you their performance from the 2018 Olympics, but their Nationals 2018 performance is just as good and they skate to the same song.
The skill, emotion and beauty in their skating is just amazing to watch. I had never heard of them before and was lucky enough to catch them on TV by chance. I'm also a big fan of the movie "Moulin Rouge" and hearing the song "Come What May" really sealed the deal for me. I loved it.
But that's not where the story ends. I did some research and found out that Tessa and Scott have been dancing together for 20 years (they started when they were 7 and 9 years old). They won two silvers at in Sochi and went on to come back to their third Olympics in Pyeongchang to win gold. But what really impressed me was their 2015 TEDxYouth talk in Toronto. They share their story about skating: The ups and the downs. If you have the time, please watch the video as it's inspiring.
Knowing that Tessa had to have multiple surgeries in her legs to continue skating and hearing about all they sacrificed to follow their dream to compete internationally is awe-inspiring. When I went back and watched their gold medal winning performance, I was extremely happy for them.
I then thought about my own life, the struggles that I've gone through and the times that I've wanted to quit and give up. I'll never be an Olympic athlete. I'll never hold a gold medal in my hand, but I have completed three marathons and have worn a finisher's medal around my neck. For me, it's not the medal that really matters, but it's the realization that I can set a goal for myself, and hell or high water, I'll succeed. Running 26.2 miles is hard. Really hard. Training takes months. The same is true of writing books. It's not easy. I've failed more times than I can remember in my lifetime, but I still get up.
And that's when it clicked: When I was listening to "Come What May," I realized that, yes, it's about a loving couple who will stay together through thick and thin, but it also could be about loving yourself. Come what may: Each of us are all that we'll ever have in life. When we wake up in the morning, brush our teeth and stare in the mirror, I wonder how often we take the moment to allow for affirmation and hug ourselves and say, "I love myself."
Yes, I know that sounds corny. But I believe that at the core of all our relationships is that fundamental bedrock of love: If we love ourselves, then we'll be okay. And for those of you who don't really know me, I'm not talking about massive egos here and being conceited or stuck up. No. I'm referring to honest, open and healthy love.
In my Cinderella's Secret Witch Diaries books, Cinderella goes through a really difficult time. She's been beat down in many ways, but it's finding that love in herself--really liking who she is that's critical. That's the message that I wanted to pass on to you today:
Love yourself.
How often do we really take time to think about this? Instead we're running around doing everything else for others, but neglect to make time for ourselves.
So treat yourself to watching Tessa and Scott skate the program of their dreams and then see their back story of how they went through decades of hard work to get to where they are. You can see the love on their faces when they're done. It's beautiful.