From the Executive Director - August 2021

The Power of No 

The Covid pandemic forced all of us to change our ways of doing just about everything. But with this, it also gave us the opportunity to pause, let go of many things we once felt were imperative, and mostly to say “No” when things become too much. In a world where we prided ourselves on always pushing to do more, we learned how to do less. This important lesson is one that I hope we will continue to learn from; that we’ll reprioritize the things that really matter over the things we had convinced ourselves matter.

There is no greater example of the Power of No right now than the talented American gymnast, Simone Biles. Perhaps the best gymnast of all time, Biles has been in the spotlight for most of her young life. She has done the hard work of perfecting her craft, has competed under immense pressure, has created moves that no other gymnasts dare even attempt, and came forward to speak up publicly about the sexual abuse that she and her teammates suffered at the hands of a trusted team doctor, and the verbal and emotional abuse suffered at the hands of her coach. She is pretty much the definition of a poised, talented, gracious, bad a$$!

So, when Biles said “No” to competing in the Tokyo Olympics when her mental and physical health were not in peak shape, she spoke volumes with that one word. Despite the pressure, the expectations, and the fact that this was her dream, she said “No.” She went on to cheer on her teammates, giving them a chance to shine and to win silver for Team USA. She showed great sportsmanship in congratulating the Russian gymnasts who took team gold – and was genuinely excited for Sunissa Lee, who replaced her on Team USA, and went on to win gold in the individual all-around. When Biles felt that she could again perform, she competed and took pride in winning the bronze medal for her beam routine – she has now tied Shannon Miller for winning the most Olympic medals of any American gymnast.

Biles could have said “Yes”. “Yes” to doing what was expected of her. “Yes” to what she had trained her whole life to do. “Yes” to putting herself at mental and physical risk based on the desires of others. “Yes” to putting her teammates at a disadvantage as a liability for the team competition. If she had said “Yes” to all of these things, people would have admired her strength and fortitude, but would have been unhappy with her performance. But she said “No”. Sure, there were people who criticized her decision, but there were many more who admired her strength and fortitude. It is often much harder to say “No” than “Yes” to the unreasonable demands of others. I’d like to think that Covid, with all the damage, pain, and sorrow it wrought on the world, has also given us all the power to say “No”.