Canadian Olympic gold medalist and Winnipeg mom Jill Officer gave us a look behind the scenes of her dual life in her blog, Jill’s House.
I’ve been dreading this for a while… writing this letter to you… to tell you I need a break.
A big break.
I’m not saying it’s over and I will never see you again, but I am saying we need to change things up and see how it goes. In the meantime, I have some things I need to say to you.
I have loved you and I have hated you.
You brought me some of the best and happiest times in my life, but also some of the worst and lowest times. Our relationship has gone the extremes. But I can’t take it anymore.
The same old daily, weekly, monthly, seasonal routines are burning me out!
It’s burnt me out to the point that I was so angry with you. I started to resent you and many of the parts that came with you. I started to wonder what I was doing to myself and why I was staying.
But I knew I’d made a commitment and was following my dreams. Sure, we achieved everything and more together, but I also wanted more for some reason. I knew we were running out of time and ultimately you stressed me out until I finally verbally said to you, I’m done. I need a break.
And since then, I’ve remembered why I love you.
I love you because I travelled the world with you. I always wanted to do that and you made it possible.
I love you because most of my best friends are people I’ve met through you.
You forced me to learn how to be better, how to communicate, how to be part of a team, hard work, discipline and that dreams do come true. But most importantly, I love you because you taught me who I am. And more recently, seriously reminded me to be grateful and to be my authentic self.
I’ve been trying to get you to teach me that for the last three years because I lost my authenticity somewhere along the way. But I was tired and didn’t have the energy or perspective to find it, but thankfully, you recently brought me back to that place.
And finally, thank you. Thank you for coming into my life and providing me with incredible experiences that many people only dream of. Thank you for teaching me so much about the world, about life and about myself.
Just know, that is isn’t’ goodbye.
WATCH: Jill spoke out about taking a break from curling in March
I could never cut myself off from you completely. I don’t know what our future looks like yet, but I know we have one. It’s just going to look and feel different until it doesn’t anymore.
So I leave our serious, competitive relationship now, so that we can explore our bond in a different way, but please know that I will always and forever love you.
Love always,
Jilly
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