A Higher Purpose

In February 2006 I achieved my dream of becoming an Olympian. All it took was a small taste of the Olympic buzz, and I knew I wanted to stick around to compete in the 2010 Games in Vancouver. While I was optimistically looking toward the future, I still found myself asking the weighty post-Olympic question. “Now what?”

I decided that if I was going to keep ski racing for another four years, I needed to discover a new motivation to help carry me through the tough daily grind. So taking a closer look, my question in fact wasn’t a question of what at all. There was no question what I wanted to do. It was more a question of how?

I always thought, especially in Olympic athletics, that you were supposed to do it “for yourself.” That motivation should come exclusively from within the self, and that it was dangerous to be motivated by external factors. For years leading into the Games I worked tirelessly and almost obsessively toward my Olympic goal. After I became an Olympian, I concluded that if really I wanted to make it another four years, my simple and selfish drive would no longer be enough. I already “did it” for myself. I needed something else.

An accomplished Canadian skier recently told me about how, after already competing on the World Cup circuit for several years, he resolved to establish what he called a “higher purpose” for his athletics. From that point on, he said, he skied for Canada. He skied to reinvigorate the popularity of his sport and to boost his country’s sense of national pride. His story resonated with me, and as he told me about how he became the first Canadian to ever win a World Cup GS or Slalom, I came to a conclusion of my own. It’s okay to be motivated by external factors, and in many respects it can even be useful. I suppose in some ways my higher purpose has always been there. I just never put a label on it until now.

Role models help reveal what’s possible. They help young children to see options and possibilities they may not otherwise ever consider. They lead by example. They expose new pathways to something “better.” They encourage boldness. They invoke young minds to dream. I know the tremendous value of role models because I was lucky enough to grow up with several of them. I had the courage to dream big, because I had role models who showed me not only that I could, but more importantly, that I should.

The portrayal of female body image in the media is a topic I have always felt very strongly about. Today standards of ideal beauty barrage young girls from every possible direction. Girls grow up from a very young age programmed to value a standard of beauty that is thin and perfect… Unrealistic. This is the brutal standard to which girls proceed to compare themselves on a daily basis.

I remember when I was in high school I was self-conscious of my muscles. My friends commented about them and I often felt like I looked like a boy. I didn’t let the insecurity interfere with my dedication to sports or training, but as I continued to hone my body for athletics, I couldn’t help but feel like it was at the detriment of my femininity.

As I look back, it sounds crazy to be insecure over looking exceptionally fit. After all, I was strong and confident and talented! But I was also young, and my body didn’t look at all like what society had taught me was beautiful. To me today, this is tragic. And yet, it’s happening all over the place on different levels. There may not be many teenage girls who are self-conscious about their muscles, but there definitely are a slew of girls and women who feel grossly inadequate in comparison to their unrealistic standard of beauty.

And so, as young girls grow up under the fire of unyielding media, I now strive to provide a counter example. There are alternatives to slender beauty. Women can be strong, powerful, and healthy and still be beautiful and feminine. I want to help prove that. Young women with secure body images are more positive and self-assured individuals. They make better employees, better friends, better girlfriends, and better citizens in general. I seek to help drive a paradigm shift: real physical health and total self-confidence in women is truly beautiful.

Being a positive role model for young girls is something I am passionate about and compelled to achieve. If I can open up just one young girl’s mind to a new and healthy definition of beauty, I will feel like I accomplished something vital. I am grateful for the opportunity to impact young girls by exposing them to the possibility of something bold and strong. I’ve never been so excited to pursue a goal because now, when I get out of bed in the morning, I feel like I am fighting for thousands of young girls.

Now that I have declared an external, higher purpose to my athletic aspirations, I function more selflessly than I ever have before. At the same time, I can’t help but believe that having such a broad, overarching purpose sets me on course to reach my athletic goals along the way. As I move forward, I know that if I conduct myself as a true and conscientious role model for the next four years, my actions will lead me precisely to my original goal. If I take every step towards Vancouver with the determination and integrity of a real role model, I am confident that in the end I will become an Olympic champion as well.

For further information I encourage you to please visit www.campaignforrealbeauty.com