Rewriting the Narrative of Prioritizing Yourself
Image by Finn
From an incredibly young age, we’ve been taught not to quit.
“Push through and don’t stop when things get hard” is a mantra most people lived by growing up—at least I did. It has been ingrained in us to never stop, even when we desperately need to. Because of this, many have pushed mental health to the back burner and been determined to not be seen as weak.
Simone Biles, who we can confidently say is the greatest gymnast of all time, was called a quitter, weak, and selfish for taking a step down from several areas of competition during the Tokyo 2020 Olympics. However, these criticisms could not be further from the truth. She rewrote what it means to prioritize your mental health.
While Biles received harsh backlash for withdrawing from team, all-around, and individual competitions due to mental health, she took the opportunity to highlight the importance of taking care of yourself. Being able to prioritize yourself while in the spotlight is anything but weak, but is rather one of the hardest and most difficult decisions to make.
Biles was under immense pressure leading up to the 2020 games, having the weight of the U.S. on her shoulders. She was anything but a quitter. Many gymnasts commented on Biles’s decision saying that if you aren’t in a good headspace while competing it can be dangerous, even deadly. What she did was brave and necessary, but was something not a lot of people could have done.
We’ve all been told by professors, doctors and probably our own peers to put ourselves first.We rarely listen to that advice. We do our best when we are healthy, mentally and physically—it’s science. We hate to admit it, but most times our mental health is put on the back burner and it this has to change.
Biles was not the only athlete in the spotlight to recently take a stand for mental health. Naomi Osaka, four-time Grand Slam singles champion, was a name often compared to Biles and her withdrawal from Olympic competition. Only a few months prior to the Tokyo Olympics, Osaka withdrew from the French Open in order to prioritize her mental health. Both athletes put pause on monumental career moments, stepping back from international competitions, because they knew things would be far worse if they didn’t.
Biles and Osaka are building the foundation for mental health awareness, especially for those in the spotlight. Athletes and other celebrities have started to use their platforms to tell their own raw and unfiltered experiences with mental health and why taking action is so critical. Biles made a monumental decision that was featured in headlines across the country for days. What she did sparked a national conversation that is far from over—it’s just beginning.
By Emma Bittner
Rom-Com fanatic and coffee connoisseur with a little bit of "I wanna save the world" in me.