Thoughts can be inspiring and they can be fleeting. They can lead us to Olympic Medals or down a path to defeat. How do you know which thoughts to follow? How do you know when to hold onto thoughts and pursue them rather than just allowing them to clog up your mind?
Have you ever wondered how many thoughts an average person has in a day? I went to ChatGPT to find out. Turns out the average person has around 6,000 thoughts per day, although this number can fluctuate significantly based on the individual and their daily activities. I also learned “Random Thoughts” can be difficult to precisely quantify, as thoughts often blend seamlessly into other thoughts and can be influenced by both conscious and unconscious processes.
That got me thinking about whether random thoughts are good or not. I suppose they’re good if they lead to something good, but they can be pretty bad if they interrupt or distract from something good you’re already thinking. Immediately a random thought came to me, about how random thoughts may affect Myasthenia Gravis. (See how that works?) I don’t know if there’s a physical connection, but there certainly could be. If we’re frequently getting random thoughts about our symptoms or condition, they could prevent us from doing the things we really need and want to do.
If you’ve been watching any of the Olympics, you probably watched the Men’s Gymnastics in which Team USA won Bronze. Our Men’s Gymnastic Team hadn’t won any medals in the last 16 years, so this was quite an accomplishment. It all came down to the very last performance by Stephen Nedoroscik.
Many articles and media reports on Stephen Neoroscik referred to him as “nerdy”. He wears glasses and is often seen sitting alone. He only competes in one team event, the Pommel Horse.
Stephen suffers from two eye conditions – strabismus and coloboma. Strabismus is often referred to as “crossed eyes”. They point in different directions. This can cause double vision. Coloboma is when part of the eye tissue is missing, which can lead to vision loss and sensitivity to light.
When Stephen is not performing, the cameras will often catch him doing one of two things. He either will be sitting on a bench with his knees tucked up to his chest and his eyes closed or he will be standing, with his eyes closed, going through his entire Pommel routine. This is how he prepares for his event.
The other night, Team USA was in contention for the Bronze medal. All that was left was the final contestant, Stephen Nedoroscik. He removed his warmups, removed his glasses and walked to the Pommel. The eyes of the world were on him. If he did well, he would be a hero. If he did poorly, he would be a goat, and not the good kind of GOAT (Greatest of All Time).
Now, bear in mind, with his glasses off, he can barely see his hand in front of his face. He took a deep breath and started his routine. Around and around he went, working up and down the pommel. He made it look effortless. He didn’t need to see with his eyes; he was seeing with his hands and his mind. He neared the end of his routine, did a handstand and then made a perfect dismount and stuck his landing. He had done it! The smile on his face proved he knew he had done exactly what they needed of him. His teammates and the crowd went crazy. He had just assured Team USA would receive the first Olympic Medal in Men’s Team Gymnastics in 16 years.
He had one job to do. It’s the only job he had. The Pommel Horse. He nailed it.
Here’s what he told ABC News after his medal-winning routine, “I just stayed in the moment…. If I put this dismount up and stick the landing, we get a team medal! So, literally, as I’m in the air, falling to my feet, you can see the smile already coming to my face, and man, was that a moment I’ll never forget.”
We won’t forget it either, Stephen.
Here was a young man with a pretty big disability that would have prevented most people from pursuing the Olympics, but he didn’t allow that to hold him back. He was sometimes made fun of, called “nerdy” and a “loner”. That’s because the thick glasses he wore made him look different from most gymnasts and the way he got through competition was by focusing on the one job he had to do, which made him appear to be a loner.
What made Stephen so good? He focused on exactly what he needed to do. He didn’t let his poor eyesight prevent him from being an Olympian. He didn’t let what other people thought affect him. He was able to push random thoughts aside. Could you imagine what would have happened if he had lost concentration and started thinking random thoughts during the middle of his routine? It would have been a disaster. Instead, he focused, he pushed aside random thoughts and he made his thoughts count. No one’s making fun of Stephen today. Today they call him a “Hero”.
For those of us with Myasthenia Gravis, we can too often let random thoughts affect our ability to accomplish. We can fill our minds so full of “I can’t” that the rest of our body begins to believe it. We can start focusing on doing something only to have random thoughts break our concentration and ultimately, our will. When this happens, we need to close our eyes, bring our knees to our chest, concentrate and push away any random thoughts. We need to focus on what it is we need to accomplish. It doesn’t matter what we look like. It doesn’t matter if it’s difficult. What matters is that we set our sights on a goal and get it done.
Stephen Nedoroscik is good at all gymnastics events, but he is great in one event. They even call him “Mr. Pommel Horse”. Find your event. Work at it. Focus on it. Practice it. Imagine it. Do it. Don’t let disabilities hold you back. Find something you’re good at and become great at doing it.
My random thoughts often get in the way of me accomplishing what I set out to accomplish. They distract me. They tell me it will hurt. They tell me I’m not strong enough. They tell me I’m too tired. They seed doubt. I have to push through them, just like Stephen. I have to focus. I have to allow room in my mind only for what needs to be there at the time. Like Stephen, I need to stay in the moment. When I do that, I can accomplish. It may not be Bronze medals, but it’s still an accomplishment to me.
Don’t let MG be the distraction that keeps you from doing great things. Push those random thoughts out of your head and don’t let anything stop you from doing it.