Following the Beam to Your Dreams

“She kept getting letters from other universities, like Georgia, and she just ignored them!” -Deena Lofgren

Following the Beam to Your Dreams

I sat on the floor, in an arena packed with more than fifteen thousand fans as they were going wild with excitement. At the peak of the elation I took a moment to sit and take it all in so I could treasure it up.  I knew this would be one of just a few truly special moments to savor in my lifetime.

You might think I was appreciating the moment because of something I had done.  But it had nothing to do with me.  I was just there for the journey.

As I looked at the slight blonde woman performing in front of me, I could see other images in my mind.  You see I had watched this athlete from the beginning.  She trained and competed with one of my own daughters as a little girl.  So, I know of some of the challenges she faced along her path and I’ve watched her up close for about sixteen years.  This meet was the climax of all her training and dreaming.  It was a night to remember.

I had the opportunity to talk with Mary Beth Lofgren’s mother, Deena, after the meet about her daughter’s journey and she said, “She kept getting letters from other universities, like Georgia, and she just ignored them.  She wanted to come and compete for the University of Utah and Greg & Megan Marsden.  I worried that she might be disappointed since she had such high anticipations, but she said her experience at Utah exceeded her expectations!”  

It was wonderful to see the warmth and glow in Deena’s eyes as she spoke.  It was the prefect reflection from the sparkle and exuberance I had seen shining from Mary Beth’s face a few minutes earlier as she dismounted the Balance Beam at the end of her great routine.  So I reflected a little myself and here’s what I’ve learned from Mary Beth Lofgren over the past few years:

Define your dreams in exact detail.  Mary Beth knew exactly where she wanted to compete.  All of her energy was directed at doing what it took to get there.

Work your heart out.  Most people have only seen Mary Beth compete in public.  I’ve seen her train long hours in the gym.  I’ve seen her there when she was tired, sick, lonely, and injured.  She worked hard through all of it and never gave up.

Some times you need to take a step back.  There were times when Mary Beth was injured and couldn’t train or compete.  I know of at least one injury that made it so she had to take a significant amount of time out to heal.  When that happens to some people they’re finished.  Mary Beth used the time to gather her strength so she could come back healed and give it her all.

Your biggest dreams will take time to achieve.  A person doesn’t become a world-class athlete over night.  Mary Beth worked many years to reach her goals.  She took things one-step at a time.  She would master one skill and them move to acquire another.  If you want to reach your dream don’t be fooled into thinking you can skip a step or two to get there.  Become a master of all the skills a master must have.

Ignore things that distract you from your path.  Mary Beth knew she wanted to compete for the University of Utah and be coached by the Marsdens.  When other universities tried to recruit them she didn’t waste her time looking at their offers.  Her focus was exact.

Create a system to help you keep your focus when you really need it.  Competing on the beam in gymnastics takes precision and extreme focus.  I’ve noticed that athletes who lose their focus and surrender to their fear get hurt badly on the beam.  Gymnasts have a saying.  “When you bail you fail!”  Mary Beth recites “Utah Man” to block everything out when she’s on the beam.  It works for her even with thousands of fans screaming all around her.

Just like Mary Beth, you and I have lots of distractions in our lives so it’s easy to lose sight of our dreams.  I’ve known some people who have even lost the ability to dream at all.  It’s a sad thing when that happens.  But, it doesn’t have to happen to you and me.

We will succeed if we think of reaching our dreams as a walk down a gymnastics beam.  The path to reaching the end is narrow and requires concentration.  It takes effort, time, courage and focus to get to our dreams.  There will be times when we will need to take a little breather from difficult moments.  But, in the end our hard work and focus will allow us to finish in a flurry as we vault to a standing finish.