December has arrived and I’ve got a couple of extra things to say… Here is the first of 3 December messages you are doing well,

Let me know if there is anything I can do to help out !

Marnie

Vanoc has done studies… observations let’s say… of the weather in February and how the schedule of events would have played out over the last few years.  Last year, there would have been only a couple of minor delays with all events getting off on the correct day. The year before, there were a few more delays and a few events would have been postponed to another day but the Games would have finished on time.  This is not upsetting information- it is simply stats and comparisons.  It gives us an idea of what could possibly happen, but we know, it will likely be different.

In the same way the COC has looked at the results from last year’s World Championships Continue reading →

French follows

The other day I was taking my laundry to my laundry room and a sock fell onto the stairs; I kept walking, ‘somebody will get it’. I must have walked past that sock 4 or 5 times before I realized I was going to have to be that somebody!! You know… the same somebody who empties the dishwasher, or brings in the garbage can… ‘Somebody will do it”!

Well, it works the same way for winning. Somebody is going to do it: No matter how great or how shitty the day: No matter how early or late in the season: No matter how fair or unfair the situation. Somebody is going to win.

Don’t get caught waiting for somebody ELSE to do it – BE YOUR OWN SOMEBODY! Continue reading →

Version française suit.

I was at a Rob Thomas concert the other night and as he was introducing a song he said “Expectations can really kill a good thing”.

He wrote the song, Little Wonders, (which became the soundtrack for Meet the Robinsons,) when he was walking his dog.  He’d had a particularly crappy day and was talking to his dog as they walked along. Rob said he was stressed and annoyed until he realized his dog was simply looking up at him with a great big ‘smile’ and enjoying being out for a walk.  Rob was missing the beautiful day and a chance to walk  and play with his dog.  He let it go and had a great day – and wrote a great song! Continue reading →

La version française suit.

I like to send these messages out at the beginning of each month – sorry that this one was delayed. I’m pretty proud of a trip I just took to Kenya and Tanzania with some high school girls from the East  Scarborough (Toronto area).  We put 11 girls up to their first “Can I? Will I?” moment – There really are some incredible kids out there!!  (www.girlimpact.org/blog  )

Very cool that your medals have now been presented to the World.  A unique design for what will be your unique efforts!!!

Today’s message is a bit about perspective.

It is not the time, it is the effort that allows you to dream big. If you go to almost any gym across Canada you will see people who train regularly.  You will even find people there twice a day; hours a day. They sweat, they groan (Marathon runners and triathletes are particularly crazy and time committed).  They have families and jobs – sport is simply their passion and hobby.  They put in TIME, lots of it.  What makes you unique is the EFFORT: it has to be.  Just the TIME is not enough, and I know you all know that… but putting all this TIME in sport does not make you some martyr to your sport or the Olympic cause. TIME doesn’t make you special- there really are normal people putting in more TIME than some full time athletes.  (That’s okay.) Putting in TIME does not give anyone the right to dream big.  Putting in consistent EFFORT does. Being professional and somewhat visionary about the way you put in EFFORT allows you to dream big.

Continue reading →