July, 31st 2021

I woke up energetic this morning, despite the fact that I went to sleep late last night, around 1:30 a.m. I jumped out of the bed at 7 a.m. and half an hour later I was ready to go to work. So, I went downstairs and had breakfast with my girlfriend. I read my book on the bus as I always do - The Demon-Haunted World written by Carl Sagan, an excellent book by the way - and by 9 o' clock I had already arrived at the gymnasium. The classes were good, but not great - at least for my demanding standards. Artistics Gymnastics is a picky sport, it demands early specialisation and years of hard work. Even though I know that out of one hundred, only one of them could really become an athlete, I give them all my best, because I never know who will be successful. After 4 years of coaching gymnastics I know that most of them quit before completing the second year of training, for several reasons - money issues, parent's logistical problems or they just don't identify themselves with the sport and end up playing soccer, doing judo or something. I often wonder if it's still worth doing it . Of course it is worth, each smile that I receive after helping them to do a new move, the gratitude of the parents after the classes and I'm pretty sure they will benefit in the future from the human values learned there. I may be wrong, but that's what I believe and what I think at the end of the day, when I lack confidence or motivation.