Just like that, she educated us again. If there was a playbook on how to handle “this”…she’d be the lead author.
After Simone withdrew from the Team Finals, following the first event, the naysayers got on her: “Yeah now ‘MH’ is an excuse for ‘quitting.’” That’s what they leaned on, asking the piercing question – What will you say if she comes back after this to compete in the individual competition?
Well she didn’t – not right away at least. She missed MOST of the individual competition.
We had Olympic Gold Medalist from Sydney in the 4×200 Freestyle, @slivingstn on the WAALC podcast this wk (2nd slide➡️) & this was BEFORE Simone had returned.
In that episode, w Theo (another Olympian & gold medalist), & Darren, we discussed what ppl should think if Simone DID return for it ALL – the entire individual competition.
All 4 of us, sufferers of major MH crashes in our own lives – we all said the same thing: ya CAN’T put a timeline on your MH. Our genetics are diff – our chemistry, our neurobiology, our trauma histories, how we handle stress – it’s ALL diff.
While I shared in the last post abt Simone, how my own crash in Florida happened essentially overnight – once I started healing & learning tools to rehab my CNS, I gained back at least SOME control, over my MH.
Now, yrs later, I’ll have a day (& I’ve shared this here), where I can’t think straight, lay arnd, don’t want to eat much or leave the apt. I’ll do yoga, deep breathing, & many times w/in DAYS, not even wks, I’m up presenting in front of 200 ppl.
Does it work that way all the time? No. But when I say she wrote the book now – she showed the world, the possible game plan. For some w more chronic conditions, no they would not be able to compete so close to the “fall” of the team comp.
But in Simone’s case, as w many others, MH can be a fluid thing, w flare ups, where your can rehab your neurobiology back “enough.”
That’s not proof she quit last week. That’s proof when it comes to MH, there is hope & some control WE have, not to be a victim of it…but to manage it. Once again, thanks Simone.
