Note: You only have to watch the first two minutes of the video to catch the “normal” reference. The source link takes you to the video.
One of my favourite sports at the Olympics is swimming. Canada’s medals (11 so far) have all been won by women, with all but two or three of them coming from the pool.
CBC Sports’ Scott Russell sat down with Hilary Caldwell after winning her bronze medal to discuss the event, her training, and her Canadian teammates.
Source: Hilary Caldwell on her bronze medal: ‘it’s twenty years in the making’
I love how Hilary speaks about how winning medals have become “normal” for her team and she was glad she could be a part of this.
I think the word “normal” is very interesting. People can get hung up on what normal really means while others, like Hilary, can use it to illustrate a phenomenon – the relay team won a medal on the first day and it built the team up to win more – winning became the norm rather than putting pressure on the women to get another one.
I totally relate to this. I remember in my early days after being diagnosed with bipolar I just wanted to be “normal”. However, what was my normal?
Over the years I realized that my normal didn’t mean I was perfect, healthy, beautiful, smart, etc. My normal meant being chronically ill physically and mentally, a touch overweight, having a husband who cares about me and friends who take me as I am.
So here’s to Normal and here’s to the Canadian women (and men!) as they give the best to get on a podium.
Lydia!
Being Lydia! 