Discouraged is not a familiar word to this owner of a three-time brain tumor.
After the 2018 Winter Olympics, famed gold medalist Scott Hamilton reflected on a television talk show about adoption, cancer, and his recurring brain tumor.
How does he thrive with anxiety?
Best Advice Ever from an Olympic Gold Medalist
For a quarter of a century, you couldn’t watch a Winter Olympic broadcast without Scott Hamilton in the booth.
But not recently. He was demoted in favor of Tara Lapinski and Johnny Weir.
This surprised me, and I think many others, because of Scott’s TV charisma and his pedigree of four straight world championships in the eighties and a gold medal in 1984.
Channel surfing the other day, I saw Scott talking about his new book, Finish First: Winning Changes Everything.
I didn’t know about his scary battles with . . .
- stage 4 testicular cancer and
- a recurring brain tumor
The tumor is benign, but it is still a threat to his optic nerve.
- First appeared in 2004
- Reappeared in 2010
- Reappeared again in 2016
And since he couldn’t use radiation a third time, he was given two options…
- Diet
- Prayer
“I prayed about 12 times a day. When I was told that the tumor shrank, I asked the doctor how that was possible. He just smiled and said, ‘God’. This honestly is my favorite thing about my faith. We have no right to hang on to anything anymore, except Jesus. You can call us crazy, those of us who believe this, but pay attention. We’re happier and lighter.”
_ Scott Hamilton
I’m all in about happier and lighter, aren’t you?
When trauma speeds anxiety, I remember this lesson from the playground.
A Law from the Playground
The merry-go-round was always a star attraction growing up.
Kids crowded around yelling and huffing and puffing to jump on, while some on the edge cried, “Stop!” “Stop!”
Some laughed like hyenas, screaming, “Faster!”
And then some kind soul yells, “Move to the center!”
‘That’s it,’ I’d say to myself, ‘move to the center!’
The center was magical because no matter how fast the spin, you wouldn’t get dizzy!
The Edge vs the Center
My struggle on the merry-go-round was the same as it is today.
What to do with speed.
Every day begins normally enough, like the merry-go-round.
Soon, a crowd joins you, screaming different demands.
- Financial demands
- Family demands
- Work demands
Is this the way to success?
The more you do, the more you’re requested to do?
How do you keep fatigue and fear from creeping in?
Move to the center. Run to the center. Cleave to the center.
What Scott Hamilton Taught Me
Since I first wrote this post, Scott Hamilton continues to encourage people facing impossible odds.
His story reminds me that courage isn’t the absence of fear.
It’s refusing to let fear have the final word.
Where do you find hope when life doesn’t go as planned?
Stories like this are part of the reflections I write about life, resilience, and human turning points explored on my About Stephen Blaising page.
I like the center in the maelstrom of life, especially if you have peripheral vision or a vision of the important things.
And Steve, it’s hard to believe the swirl will slow down. How can folks survive with no center? Thanks!