The Arena of Success

"The rewarding thing for me is to see how the girls I've worked with have grown into such fantastic people."

• Mary Wright
  

The Arena of Success

I was standing at the side of a huge blue square when I saw Mary off to the side. As our eyes met I watched her mouth stretch to the left and the right as it turned into a sunshine smile. She and I walked toward each other and embraced our friendship. We've know each other for many years in this same environment.

Mary was there in her role as the floor coach for University of Utah Gymnastics and she's been a fixture in my life as long as I can remember. She coached two of my daughters through tears and successes. She held them when they cried and when they were triumphant. She embraced them when they were healthy and when they were hurting. She holds a special place in my heart for what she's done for my daughters.

The interesting thing is that what I love her most for has nothing to do with gymnastics. "It's the discipline and the hard work that prepares them for life." She says. "I love it when my girls call or email me to let catch me up on what they're doing."

I look at my own daughters and know she's right. In their early years they learned that if they wanted to do gymnastics they had to have good grades and citizenship. And, because of their love for the sport they learned to do their homework in the car while we drove in to and from the gym. They trained hard six days of the week for hours and hours and developed lifelong friendships along with their amazing work and scholarship skills. It has all combined to make them remarkable women. Through it all, I've learned just as many lessons from Mary as have my daughters.

As Mary and I stood on the edge of the gymnastics floor just before a meet between University of Utah and Stanford, I paused and let the lessons rush into my heart.

First, it's important to love what you're doing with your life. If you're not willing to put everything else in your life into second position and do whatever it takes to become the best-you-can-be while doing it then perhaps you haven't found your passion.

Second, even though you live as an individual, working with other same-minded people will deepen your experience as well as your ability to succeed. Team members will be able to lift you when you're feeling low and give you strength and courage to carry on when you think you can't.

Finally, while we all need to make money, we should all learn the most valuable lesson Mary has taught me: Make sure you are really doing whatever you do for the relationships. As I stood there, by the side of the competition floor with Mary, I looked up into the thousands of arena seats and knew that if success in life is to be judged by the number of lives touched, then every seat in that arena could be occupied by girls touched by Mary. Her life is a sold our arena.