I'm not normal. Most folks watch the women's Olympic figure skating and just enjoy the grace of those "twizzles" and "triple lutzes."
Not me. I'm a story guy. So I'm sitting there mulling the stories of those skaters. And thinking, "We've got something to learn from her."
It happened again when Italy's finalist, Caroline Kostner skated her long program in Sochi. Before she began, they showed her disastrous skate in Vancouver four years ago.
Multiple falls. Leaving the ice with her face buried in her hands. In her words, "It was breaking my heart."
And that was to be the end of her skating career. She didn't want to go through this again.
But she did. And on the ice in Sochi this week, she skated a nearly flawless program.
And captured Olympic bronze.
Now I don't ice skate. At least, not intentionally. But I know what it is to fall.
I've set personal goals and blown it - losing weight, getting to a better place financially, conquering a personal weakness. I've made some calls as a leader that I dearly wish I could do over. I've too many times failed to be what people I love need me to be.
And like all of us who have tried and failed, I know the temptation to forget it and not "get on the ice" again.
But then I consider two Olympic lessons that can turn a sad chapter into a comeback victory.
1. When you go down, don't stay down.
I've watched three children and now our grandchildren learn to walk. They all have the same m.o. Step. Boom. Try to walk. Fall down.
The fallen baby has two choices. One - "That's it. I tried my best. I failed. I can't do this. I give up." So now he's 18 years old, lying in the middle of the living room. With his mom vacuuming around him. With his friends rolling into his room with him.
Didn't happen. No, every child got back up and started walking again. Step, step. Boom. Then step, step, step, step boom. Until it was all "step" and no "boom."
I've decided that the only people who haven't fallen are people who never tried to walk. This week I watched an Olympic skater whose falls were seen by millions. Who was devastated by the scope of her failure.
But who came back with the greatest victory of her life.
2. Do it for the joy, not the result.
That's actually what Caroline Kostner's mother told her after the debacle in Vancouver. Good advice. Stop thinking about how you'll perform. Relax.
The Olympic commentators said she skated with a freedom they'd never seen in her before. In her words, "I had to skate for the passion and the pleasure, not to take it so seriously." And that changed everything.
In the 2002 Olympics, U. S. skater Sarah Hughes surprised everyone - including herself - by bringing home the gold.
She went into the finals in 4th place - with little to lose. As the top three contenders competed, you could feel the tension. Every jump. Every landing. Each precision movement potentially meaning victory or defeat.
Then Sarah skated. She was just fun to watch. Because she was clearly having fun. Skating with reckless abandon. That freedom liberated her to give the best performance of her life. A gold medal performance.
I saw one skater's Olympic redemption this week. Coming back is about getting back up, no matter how ugly the fall.
And enjoying the process instead of obsessing over your performance.
In a way, I win when I just put my skates back on.
