Canadian Olympic gold medalist and Winnipeg mom Jill Officer gives us a twice-monthly look behind the scenes of her dual life in her blog, Jill’s House.
“I love it when you tell me I’ve changed because I’ve been trying to change and I couldn’t be happier with the person I am today.”
How powerful is that?!
That line was a tweet that was sent out by Penny Oleksiak the other day. Penny was the superstar 16-year-old Canadian swimmer who won four Olympic Medals in her first Olympics in Rio in 2016.
When I read that my mind said “yes, yes, yes!”
Then I thought, “Wow, how profound for a now 17-year-old!”
It is something I’ve been working on for years! But none more so than the last four. I think Penny’s tweet was a timely reminder to me of my purpose for continuing to stay on this crazy curling ride.
The fall after we won the Olympics in 2014, I remember sitting across from a few of our support staff and explaining that I chose to curl for another quadrennial because I felt that curling still had something to teach me about myself.
It really had very little to do with curling.
While I’ve kept that in the back of my head for the last three years as a gentle reminder of why I still play, it hasn’t been until recently that I’ve become aware that in fact “I have changed because I tried to change and I couldn’t be happier with the person I am today!”
This is essentially where the last three years has gotten me…to a place where I am even more accepting of myself and I am owning who I am and all that comes with me(remember the pile of crap?!).
READ MORE: Jill’s House: ‘Put the guilty sticks down’ focus on the positive within yourself
So while our team is only 10 days away from beginning our attempt to defend our title at the Olympic Curling Trials, the event will be a small part of what this journey has been for me. Win or lose, I have learned a lot more about myself, including how to be myself, which was my purpose, my goal and my gut for staying on the ice.
And win or lose, I am sure there will be more to learn about myself, more accepting to do, and more winning to do…maybe in curling but more so in life.