Look For The Helpers

Last Monday morning, I watched the Boston Marathon online before going out for the afternoon.

I couldn't believe it when I returned home to learn of the news of the bombings.

So many stories have been written and shared since then, but the favourite quote I read was from Mr. Rogers:

"When I was a boy and I would see scary things in the news, my mother would say to me, look for the helpers. You will always find people who are helping"

From first respondents to competitors to spectators, countless people helped others last Monday.

To see examples, all you have to do is google Boston Marathon helpers and there are numerous articles detailing those who helped while facing adversity.

Yesterday, Toronto held the Yonge Street 10K run. It starts a block from my house and I have often gone to watch the start.

Seeing runners wearing special bibs reading "Runners United In Support" made this Yonge Street 10K more memorable and special.

Race director Alan Brookes who was in Boston last Monday (and London during the week) spoke at the start of the event saying that the spirit of the marathon and running would not be diminished. He said that "while we are still very much in shock and sadness, the whole community, globally, seems to have come together in shows of support and it’s wonderful that we have the opportunity in Toronto". There was then a 30 second moment of silence for Boston before the start of the event. 

The elite runners taking the start included Olympian Eric Gillis (red sleeves and black vest near the left). He would finish the race in 2nd place behind Kip Kangogo (black shorts white vest - 2nd from the right). Click here for a race recap.

The women's eventual winner Lanni Marchant is seen to the left and behind Eric.

Over 7500 runners ran the race. It was inspiring to see so many fit and happy people ready to challenge themselves. 

This is the 4th group starting.

The first group that started were the handcycles:

Unfortunately at the London Marathon yesterday, the wheelchair athletes did not start first. This in part lead to Canadian paralympian (and 2012 Boston Marathon champion) Josh Cassidy being involved in an accident when the 2012 Olympic women's marathon winner veered left at a watering station into the path of Josh who was in the process (along with multiple other wheelchair athletes) of passing the group of women leaders. The accident ruined both their chances of winning the race, but luckily not their season or careers.

The London Marathon paid tribute to Boston as did the Vancouver Sun Fun Run which saw over 48000 runners participating. The city of Boston will pause today at 2:50pm to mark the moment of the bombings a week ago.

Running (and races) are happy events where many people achieve their dream of simply completing the race or reaching a personal best. They share their achievements with family, friends and supporters. Continuing to run and pursue their passion is another way that these runners are helping everyone recover from the Boston bombings. 

Song I ♥: Every Story Has A Twist by Rosanna Tomiuk

I was compiling my list of songs I ♥ in 2012 (for my original blog My Life Is Like A Song) when I came up to Rosanna Tomiuk (while looking at my music chronologically). I have loved many of her songs (all of them?), so which one do I choose?

I saw her in concert last month and if you haven't read it yet, you can find my post about it here where I talk a little more about her music and her songs.

How do I choose one song (or two) in my year-end list? I really loved the Olympic-themed Made It, but also the songs on her EP. The new song Every Story Has A Twist that she performed at the concert really resonated with me though. Can I include a song I have heard twice, and only has a twenty second clip on her Facebook page? Do I wait for it to be released and include it in my list that year?

I took a break from making my list and went on Twitter where I see a tweet from Rosanna that she just posted a video of the song. If that's not sign enough that I should include it now, I don't know what is.

She wrote Every Story Has A Twist after getting back in the pool for the first time since the Olympic trials. The first time I heard it, it brought tears to my eyes and goosebumps on my skin. Many times songs have to grow on me, but not this one.

If you don't know Rosanna's story, she's a Team Canada water polo player. She always dreamed of being a musician. She explains in the introduction to the video for Made It (you can see it on my other blog post), if she had made the Olympic Team, she wouldn't have recorded the video for Made It for her Olympian friends to see. The video wouldn't have been shared by many. She wouldn't have been in the press (for singing - but perhaps she would have been for water polo). She wouldn't have been invited to sing for the Olympians at the Olympic Hall Of Fame Induction Gala...and her music career wouldn't have begun (in 2012 anyway).

I always say that things happen for a reason even if we don't know the reason at the time. As a past athlete who had dreams bigger than my fate, I could completely relate to the lyrics and feel of this song.

Every Story Has A Twist describes the feelings of a dream being crushed, but also the inspiring lesson of another dream beginning.

  

Lyrics:

Verse 1:
Visit the place
Been some days
A dream died
Up to breathe
There's a beautiful scene
But instead I cry

Verse 2:
With my face in my hands
Can't believe this is it
Look around
Ya girl, this is it

Chorus:
I think I'm ok
Then the surface breaks
Pain pours in
Think I'm ok
I guess a dream isn't fate
Every Story has a twist

Verse 3:
All those days
Were they a waste? 
To chase
In faith
It would be ours

Flip a Coin

Alexandre Despatie posted the following on Twitter today:

"When in doubt.. Flip a coin! Once it's in the air you will know what side you're hoping for!! #lovethisquote"

How true!

Basically, follow your heart (or your gut)!

I have never heard this quote but will definitely try it next time I am grappling with a decision.

"The Olympics Is Every Single Day"

Adam van Koeverden wrote an article for The Toronto Star: "Remembering Randy Starkman". You can read the full article here.

I love his quote:

"Randy lived by the same motto as the rest of us. The Olympics isn't every four years, it's every single day. He just got it."

This is why I had started this blog. I wanted to write about the Olympics, not only during the Olympics. I wanted to follow the athletes' results and training between the Olympics. I wanted to know the athletes before the Opening Ceremonies. I wanted to cheer and cry with them when they achieved their dreams or when they didn't. I wanted to recognize the amazing 20th finish from an athlete achieving their personal best, not just the gold medals.

Randy Starkman gave me that with his blog. Although I may not have written as much as I would like, I have followed the athletes through his writing and tweets as well as through the athletes' blogs and tweets. Randy helped me find the athletes on Twitter and their blogs.

I wonder who will pick up the baton that has now been dropped. Who will be the amateur athletes' voice? Who will make sure that we hear their stories? Who will the athletes trust with their stories?

I wish I was worthy, but I am not a writer. I loved the quote in the movie Contagion:

"Blogging is not writing, it's graffiti with punctuation"

So although I am not a "writer", I AM passionate about the Olympics and our athletes.

There is 101 days to go until the 2012 London Olympics. I will write as much as I can leading up to the Olympics. I hope that those interested in our athletes and the Olympics will find my blog and enjoy my posts until Randy's baton is picked up.

Why Not Me

During an interview at the Canadian Swimming Olympic trials, Mark Tewksbury was asked to give advice to our Olympians. I loved his quote:

"Leave no stone unturned now because, I think when you get to the Games, the best place to be is 'I've done everything possible...Why Not Me' to win a medal and when you get that kind of confidence and sureness, anything can happen"

Great advice from the 1992 Olympic Gold Medal Winner (backstroke).

Meet a Mother On Fire

Originally published on April 2, 2010 on My Life Is Like A Song

This is the article that appeared under Meet a Mother on Fire on the Mothers on Fire website:

Suzanne Sewell Goes to the Olympics!

“I think what really made this work was how supportive my whole family was. They understood how important it was to me and they did everything they could to help. No one complained or whined. No one made me feel guilty.”

Suzanne Sewell just came back from a solo trip to the 2010 Vancouver Olympics. This was a dream she had for a long time and despite a lot of logistical planning, she made it happen. Suzanne is a perfect example of what being on fire means for many reasons. Mostly because she followed her heart and made her dream come true.

MOF: Why was it important for you to be part of the Olympic experience?
Suzanne: Since I was a little girl, I have loved the Olympics. It meant so much for me to be part of the Olympic experience especially in 2010 because it was in our home country.
I remember Brian Orser carrying the flag in Calgary for the 1988 Opening Ceremonies. Seeing him enter in his home country and the crowd going crazy was awe-inspiring. I wanted to witness our Canadian athletes walking in at the Opening Ceremonies in our home country. I wanted to see the Opening Ceremonies that would showcase my country. I wanted to see our athletes compete in front of their home crowd. I didn't dream that I would see us win our first gold medal on home soil, but I did.

MOF: How did you make it work with your family?
Suzanne: My husband was away on a 4 day business trip overlapping with the first 24 hours of my absence which made it more difficult than it would have been otherwise. Our kids are 10 and 13 and are quite independent so they were not the biggest concern. Our 9 month old puppy was the biggest problem. The kids would be at school all day, but the dog needed to be taken care of. My husband's parents traveled from Windsor to take care of the kids and puppy until his return and then my husband worked from home until I came back.
I think what really made this work was how supportive my whole family was. They understood how important it was to me and they did everything they could to help. No one complained or whined. No one made me feel guilty. My children helped out and my husband handled everything else. We often take the Blackberry world for granted, but it's at times like this that it's wonderful that my husband could work from home and manage his business and family responsibilities. If any questions arose, I was only a phone call or message away. Technology really helps in these kinds of situations.

MOF: What was your biggest challenge?
Suzanne: My first big challenge was to overcome every reason that would pop up of why I couldn't do this, from cost, time, effort, responsibilities, fear and guilt. But then I would think about how I would feel if I didn't do it, and it would motivate me to overcome those reasons.
My second biggest challenge was worry. I worried about child and puppy care working out. I worried about the snowstorm in Southern Ontario. I worried about the rain and fog at Cypress Mountain where my event was taking place. I worried about the commute from Victoria (where I was staying with friends) to Vancouver and to Cypress Mountain. I worried about the sea planes being grounded due to high winds or storms. I worried about missing the bus to the ferry and being stranded in Vancouver. I worried about being there alone. I spent a lot of time coming up with back up plans. I felt better knowing that I had solutions to potential problems. My extra research and planning paid off because while I was there, I never came close to getting lost, stressed or late for anything.

MOF: What did you learn?
Suzanne: I had often been passive in my life. Letting things happen. I have been pretty lucky that a lot of wonderful things have happened to me without having to fight too much for it...but I also wonder if had I fought more, could even better things have happened to me. I learned that if I had let things happen this time, I would not have gone. When challenges came up, it would have been easy to give up...and I did give up a few times, only to decide to keep trying when I would get so sad imagining that I wouldn't be there. I knew that if I missed this opportunity, I would regret it my whole life. A month before getting the tickets, I was reading a book that had the following quote that really spoke to me: "Brick walls are there for a reason. They let us prove how badly we want things". After reading that, I looked at the obstacles I came up against differently. If there's anything I learned from this experience, it is to not give up.

Suzanne Sewell lives in Toronto with her husband and 2 beautiful children. She has a passion for music and writes her own blog called My Life is Like a Song. You can read more of her life experiences at www.mylifeislikeasong.blogspot.com

Open Happiness

Originally post on My Life Is Like A Song on December 19, 2009

The first thing that I want do
Make sure that you feel it too
So I'm not the only one

Coke introduced a new campaign last January entitled Open Happiness and had a song in its commercials.

They have released a Canadian version of the song that they are using during the Olympic Torch Relay. I heard it the other night at the City Torch Relay Celebration.



This version features Kardinal Offishall, Bedouin Soundclash's Jay Malinowski, and cœur de pirate. This is reminding me that a friend (stv) had recommended cœur de pirate a while ago. Just realized I never downloaded any of her songs, so just went to download Comme des Enfants as a start. It's funny how things come around sometimes. She'll be performing in Vancouver and Whistler during the Olympics.

They also have a bilingual version where cœur de pirate sings her part in French.



I love Jay Malinowski's voice. I noticed it the other night when the song started playing. I'll definitely be looking into Bedouin Soundclash again. I loved When The Night Feels My Song from a few years ago, but didn't download more than that.

Kardinal won the Juno Award for Single of the Year for Dangerous in 2009 and performs on the Estelle track Magnificient. I'm sure he has a lot more credits, but these are the two songs that appear on our iTunes playlist. He ran in the Torch Relay 15 minutes earlier than I saw it in my neighbourhood. Cool!

The song can be downloaded for free at www.icoke.ca

C'mon lift me up
it's a brand new day
Open up a lil happiness today

Dream Big

First published on November 14, 2009 on My Life Is Like A Song

When I was a little boy
I swore that I would change the world
when I grew up
Nothing else would be enough

I see it everyday
We settled for safe
And lose ourselves along the way

'Cause if you don't dream big
what's the use of dreaming
(Dream Big by David Cook)

Last spring, I saw a presentation from Mothers On Fire. You can read what I wrote about it here in case you want the background to this post.

This fall, I saw a second presentation from Mothers on Fire. I was going to write about it, but then got sidetracked when I read what I wrote about the first presentation and was reminded that I hadn't been a "mother on fire" since that first presentation (which was a couple of days after getting a puppy). You can read that post here.

So now, I will write about the second presentation by Brenda Jasmin of Mothers on Fire.

This presentation didn't resonate as much with me as the first one, maybe because it's not as much fun as the first one "Finding Your Inner Fire". It was about "Getting Over Guilt".

I guess I do feel guilty about some aspects of parenting and homemaking but I rarely feel guilty about having time for myself like a lot of mothers do.

I believe that the main reason I am like this is because of my husband. He always believed in the importance of his activities and his friends and always encouraged me whenever I had an opportunity to go out with my friends or for activities I enjoyed. It has been a give and take for us. I never questioned the activities that were important to him and he never questioned the activities that were important to me. We supported each other.

The timing was good to hear about guilt though (and to revisit that first presentation) because I struggled with the first few months of having a puppy. Being at a mother's group and listening to moms talk about feeling guilty for not being able to accomplish as much as they used to, it reminded me that I am a new mother. I hadn't really made the realization that I do have a newborn that I have been taking care of...it's just not a human newborn but a puppy.

Brenda also talked about being a "good enough" mother and not a "perfect" mother. This again, was not an ideal topic for me. I don't think I ever pretended that I could be a perfect mother. I think I let go of perfection in motherhood early on. (I do have perfectionist tendencies though but that's a different topic altogether) So when we were talking about what a "perfect" mother is like, I never tried to achieve the characteristics of the "perfect" mother.

Could I be a better mother than I am? Yes I could, and I keep trying to improve but perfect was never what I tried to achieve.

This presentation was a great reminder for me though to let go of the guilt of the past few months and make sure that as I try to make my dreams come true, I don't feel guilty in the future.

My favourite items on the Top Ten List for Getting Over Guilt include:

• Resist the urge to compare yourself and your children to others.
• Find times to be present for your kids.
• Take time to acknowledge what you have accomplished.
• Let go of the opinions of others (and society) and listen to your own inner voice.
• Remember that when you also take care of your own needs and do things that make you happy, your loved ones benefit.
• Connect your activity to your deeper values and dreams.

Mothers on Fire has reminded me to follow my dreams. I have been writing a lot about it in the past few months. With the Olympics being held in my country in less than 100 days, my dream of attending the Olympic Games has been my focus.

I am one step closer today to realizing that dream. After over four hours of two computers refreshing every 30 seconds and my fingers redialing for tickets yesterday, I managed to secure a ticket to the Opening Ceremony.

There are still some walls to surmount before I get there, but this is the first step. Now that I have a ticket, I will continue to work at fulfilling my dream by booking a flight, arranging accommodation, arranging for my kids and puppy care and of course, work on my finances (this is not a cheap dream). The biggest challenge will be ensuring that Mother Nature doesn't wreak havoc with my dream. It will be February in Canada. Snow storms happen. Flights get cancelled. I am trying to make sure that I take all these "walls" into consideration as I plan my trip.

I do believe that if I had not been introduced to Mothers on Fire, I would not be going to the Olympic Games this winter. I had given up on that dream last year when I looked at getting tickets for my whole family and realized financially (and logistically) it was not realistic. The timing of those two presentations was perfect for me. Would I rather go to the Olympics with my family? Absolutely!! But going alone is better than not going at all and going alone is realistic and doable.

When trying to make dreams come true, we will come up against walls. You can read my post about "they're just walls" here. These walls are not meant to stop us, but to make us show how much we want something. Unfortunately, I learned this lesson late in life (but fortunately not too late). I used to give up on my dreams too easily.

I hope that my going to the Olympic Games will teach my children to Dream Big. We don't know what we are capable of until we climb over, dig under, go around or knock those walls down.

'Cause if you don't dream big what's the use of dreaming

They're Just Walls

Originally published on My Life Is Like A Song on November 3, 2009

It doesn't matter what's in front of you
It's smaller than it seems
So don't you stop
Until they fall
They're just walls
(Walls by Ross Copperman)

A few weeks ago, I read The Last Lecture by Randy Pausch. If you think back a year or two, you may remember the professor who had terminal cancer and gave a "last lecture" - Really Achieving Your Childhood Dreams.

My mother was reading it over Thanksgiving weekend and I got it the following week to read.
The timing of me reading this book was perfect since the possibility of me achieving one of my childhood dreams is just around the corner.

You will know that in the last month, I have been thinking about my Olympic dream and trying to find out how to make it happen.

My favourite quote from The Last Lecture is:

Brick walls are there for a reason:
they let us prove how badly we want things.

I have been talking about brick walls a lot in the past few weeks. I have been thinking about all the brick walls I have come across with relation to my Olympic Dream in particular (and my other dreams).

Yesterday, one of my favourite singers posted a song on his My Space page. I couldn't believe my ears when I heard it. You can listen to it at www.myspace.com/rosscopperman

Here are the lyrics (as I hear them):

Maybe it's the way they look at you
Their eyes telling you
That everything you do
Is never going to be good enough
They'll try to crush
The love you have inside
When you're just about to fly

So don't give up
Find your way around
Yeah don't give in
Til they all come crashing down
It doesn't matter what's in front of you
It's smaller than it seems
So don't you stop
Until they fall
They're just walls

I'm my own worse enemy
Sometimes I can't see
The forest through the trees
I get lost
I get paralyed
Then I realize
That I can see a light
Breaking through the other side

So don't give up
Find your way around
Yeah don't give in
Til they all coming crashing down
It doesn't matter what's in front of you
It's smaller than it seems
So don't you stop
Until they fall
They're just walls

When I told my husband (who has a blog about coincidences) he said (and this is my favourite quote for today):

"That's not a coincidence, that's the definition of synchronicity".

So, my dream to attend the Olympic Games may still not come true. I'm not saying that just because I read a book or sing a song that I will be able to surmount the walls I keep coming up against, but it is giving me motivation to try to scale them, go around them or knock them down.

If my dream doesn't come true, I will remember another great quote by Randy Pausch:

Experience is what you get when you didn't get what you wanted.

Olympic Memorable Moments (part two)

Originally published on My Life Is Like A Song on August 26, 2008

Last week I posted my Canadian Memorable Moments. I thought I would watch more on the weekend, but I was away, found out the results and really, my enthusiasm waned (except for Adam van Koeverden's silver medal race which I did watch in its entirety with the interview and medal ceremony). He is an inspiration when he wins and when he doesn't. He was so eloquent in his interviews. He wore his heart on his sleeve. On his website, he said that a great friend told him "Our time in the valleys helps us truly appreciate the views from the mountain tops". If he had been told before the Games that he would come home with a silver medal, he would have been disappointed. Having had a horrendous first race (for him), he truly appreciated the silver medal (even if he would have preferred gold).

I found out he won silver before I saw his race (if I had been home, I might have woken up at 3:30am to watch it live). I felt so sad for him. Then I saw the race. He's leading by a lot. The commentators are saying he's going to win, then the others start catching him (I'm thankful that I know he won't win so I don't get overly excited or disappointed). Then the resuts come up. First to Australia. Second to Great Britain. His shoulders slump. I can see his disappointment (he later says he's scared he won't be on the podium and will want to go and hide somewhere). Then they remove Great Britain and put his name for silver.

His reaction?

(not my photo)

So great to see him happy with silver when the country expected double gold. Also so great to see the country (and media) so happy for him with silver. I will never forget the Toronto Star article written by Jim Proudfoot (I remember his name to this day) when Brian Orser won the silver medal in 1988. I remember him using the word loser (which prompted many letters including one from me). A quick google search found that he labeled it "the ugliest defeat in the history of skating in Canada" - I had forgotten that one. Too bad Orser didn't lose in pairs the day before (or didn't see Kurt Browning not win a medal in 3 Olympics). Kurt would love Brian's silver. And thankfully Canada loves Adam's silver.

So my pre-Olympic favourite athletes: Adam silver, Simon Whitfield silver, Alexandre Despatie silver. Is silver my new favourite colour?

OK, this is supposed to be about my international highlights...so here goes.

Michael Phelps winning 8. The one in particular that sticks out for me was when the French relay team were winning by a lot. I'm watching this thinking the U.S. is going to lose (I mean they are so far behind with less than 25 metres to go) and I think, wow, I can't believe the news highlights aren't mentioning that the dream of 8 is gone (I was watching it recorded and had been on the internet so saw some headlines). As I am thinking that, the U.S. gets closer and closer and I am thinking "No way". I can not believe that the French lost that race. The French anchor (very experienced and did a lot of trash talking before the race) swam too close to the line and basically pulled the American along in his wake. It was difficult to feel sorry for that guy (after his earlier comments).

I have to add that I wrote this last week. On the weekend, relatives from the U.S. were talking about this race and how the Americans came back so brilliantly in this race. I had meant to ask if the U.S. commentators mentioned the French "mistake". The Canadian commentators definitely focused on the French losing rather than the Americans winning. It just reminds me of how different people see different things.

Usain Bolt wins the 100m - smashing Donovan Bailey's 1996 world record by 0.15 seconds while slowing down in the last 10 metres. How fast can this guy really run? Then he breaks the record by 0.02 in the 200m (running all the way this time).

Again, I have to add the American/Canadian point of view. Our Canadian commentators were very pro-Bolt. Donovan Bailey is a mentor/friend of Usain Bolt and he was one of our analysts. If I remember what I heard on the weekend correctly, NBC's coverage focused on Bolt's lack of sportsmanship and focused on his showmanship. Again, interesting to see a different perspective.

The Jamaican women...1-2-2 (yes you read that correctly - gold and two silvers) in the 100m. What a close race. Amazing that such a small country can dominate the sprints like it did.

David Neville diving for the finish line head-first winning the bronze medal for a U.S.A. medal sweep in the 400m track final.

Getting the news from my neighbours that Roger Federer won the men's doubles. I missed most of the tennis this time around. I normally love tennis, but my lack of time meant that I didn't spend hours watching anything (except the triathlon). If Federer had been in the singles battling for a medal, I would have made the time for tennis. Wish I had realized he was battling for a doubles medal. I would have tried to catch some of it.

I understand that these are not the Olympic highlights. They are MY Olympic highlights. There are many sports (and certain days) that I did not watch, so hopefuly you'll share your highlights (and check out my Canadian Memorable Moments post for Eco's highlights in the comments ).