The world feels different. Turn on the news, scroll through social media, and it’s easy to get pulled into negative and disheartening news, whether it affects you personally and professionally or not.
Andrea Jaeger has learned something over the years, both as a former professional athlete, including being a former Olympian, and as someone who’s spent decades in service to others: sometimes the best thing you can do in difficult moments is make heart and mind space for the brave, serious, and the uplifting. Each has their own path. Lindsey Vonn chooses 80 mph downhill on a torn knee.
A Love That Started Long Before the Trophies
Andrea Jaeger would never compare what she has accomplished in sports to the daring feats many Olympians and hopeful Olympians achieve through risk-filled training and competition. Even as a little kid, long before Andrea ever imagined herself competing at Wimbledon, the French Open, or representing her country in the Federation Cup and other professional tennis events, Jaeger was glued to the television every time the Olympic Games came around. There was something about watching athletes from every corner of the world come together. To her, it was never about fighting for victory or competing for resources or power, but simply about seeing who could perform their sport with fairness and dedication: training over and over again, knowing the Olympics come only once every four years. Reaching the podium, or even qualifying for the Games, can come down to just .001 seconds in a race, a judge’s subjective scoring of a routine, or the ever-present risk of injury that athletes live with every day.
Andrea connected to the dedication a promising Olympian requires. She aligned with her own determination, making her love of tennis more than just a hobby. Recognizing that the Olympic spirit is about grace, regardless of pressure, win or loss, and can even include helping a rival on a day of anguish. Sportsmanship that transcended language, politics, and borders, Andrea wanted to be a part of. Even as a young child, when tennis was not part of the Olympics, she watched the athletes time after time, understanding she was watching something rare: people united by passion and respect, honor and character, rather than divided by difference.
Andrea understood firsthand what it took to get there, and she believed the spirit of the Olympics is something anyone can embody, athlete or not. She was prepared for the athletic demands and fully committed to the training, sacrifices, setbacks, and disappointments that inevitably come with a long career in sports.
She embraced the thousands of unseen hours of work in the quiet early mornings, as well as the many moments when others were enjoying life far removed from the discipline of Olympic training. Andrea was ready for all of it, knowing that the true spirit of an Olympian is about far more than a few minutes on one of sport’s biggest stages.
She understood why the Olympics matter, back then and especially now.
Two Things We Can All Do Right Now
Andrea was recently asked what she thought of Lindsey Vonn racing in the Olympics with a torn-up knee, and Vonn was airlifted to a hospital. Andrea’s response was “I respect anyone feeling called to take a passionate action, one of ‘called to’ bravery, as long as it causes no harm to another. Each of us has our choices, and everyone is entitled to theirs. Even though I am a former elite professional athlete and Olympian, neither qualifies me to know what it is like to travel 80mph down a mountain for sport. I prefer avoiding doing so at even 5 mph. I do know the two things I can do for Vonn, any Olympian, and those that welcome the support, I can pray and cheer.”
Jaeger has always believed inner abilities can connect to a goodwill higher power: a Gold Medal combined team, allowing to hold space within to process both tough stuff and called to stuff. So here’s Andrea’s program and training for navigating tough times and anytime:
Say a prayer. Align with where you want your prayer to be heard and felt. Whatever’s calling to your heart, spirit, or soul, whether something in the news, a personal struggle, or something happening in your community, share in your prayer. You can help another, help yourself, say hello, thank you, and that prayer, intention, hope, and energy will reach their true intent. And remember every prayer is heard, and however different your prayer may be from another’s, or similar, each prayer makes a difference.
Cheer on Olympians. The Winter and Summer Olympics alternate every two years, so we get to watch at least one Olympics every two years. Cheer for athletes from your own country and for athletes that tug at your heart, maybe even remind you a little of yourself. Follow the fascinating stories of inspiration. Let yourself get caught up in them. Cheer, cry, laugh, invest your energy in believing in the beauty, passion, and magic of sports and the Olympic spirit. Feel that rare, uncomplicated joy that comes from watching someone achieve something they’ve worked their entire life for, and they each do appreciate your support. Olympians all have had someone who told them they weren’t good enough, too different for their goal to be achieved, or not worthy of representing their sport and country. Every Olympian defied those odds, and each had someone who believed in their ability, their dream, their passion, their calling, and their goal. Cheering can help lift anyone to inspired heights.
Because here’s the thing: we need both prayer and coming together as one, and the Olympic spirit embodies a unifying heart and a spirit of cheer. Caring about what can be achieved, what may be broken but can be beautiful again, healed within and around, too. Hard stuff is called hard stuff for a reason, and we have the ability and permission to feel inspired by ourselves and by others attempting their very best. The Olympics do offer that. Every two years, for a few precious weeks, the world comes together not to argue or compete for dominance, but to celebrate what happens when human beings follow their childhood passion and put in the work, and their families and communities and the world cheer them on to the absolute limit of what’s possible.
What the Olympics Remind Us
Jaeger has seen a lot in her life, both the highs of professional sports and the lows of injury, ten surgeries in total, and early retirement from sport. She’s dedicated her post-tennis career to serving children facing serious illness through her foundation. She knows better than most that life is complicated, that suffering is real, and that easy answers are rare. Olympians gather for a few weeks at the highest level of competition, and stories abound about how those weeks spent with their teammates and competing for their country become moments they are most proud of, whether or not a medal is won. Participation is a victory in itself.
Andrea knows participation, dedication, determination, sportsmanship, and passion of Olympic athletes can still inspire us. It inspired her as a child. It inspired her as a competitor. And it still inspires her today, decades removed from her playing days, forging on with an inner strength that often defies odds. Andrea lived a pro-athlete life on the stage. Her stage has been very different for the past 40 years. An example of just one day in the life, a recent Andrea day included giving assistance to a mom navigating ice storms to get her 2 year old daughter to the ER due to a chemo treatment reaction, being of service helping a child cancer survivor that ended up back in the hospital for 3 back to back life saving brain surgeries, supporting a child cancer survivor struggling from a scary hit and run accident that required hospital care and surgery, aiding a family whose young daughter died of cancer, giving care to a family with a son recently diagnosed with cancer, living as most families due in such situations traumatized, in financial need, scared and looking for help.
Olympic athletes are mindful of every minute in a 24-hour period, as competition demands awareness beyond the moments of the event. Andrea still has that same mindset. Every minute can be useful and contribute to a common goal. That one-day scenario for Andrea is on par with her 365 days a year, and she approaches each day with Prayer and Cheer for others, regardless of the adversities at hand. Andrea does her best to serve up gold medals to every family she helps as they navigate their experiences with bravery and faith. She believes anyone can be an Olympian for another.
Watching someone achieve their dream and helping others turn their worst day into a better one reminds us that dreams and callings are worth believing in, acknowledging, and pursuing, whatever the outcome may be. Watching athletes support each other, even competitors, reminds us that kindness and excellence aren’t mutually exclusive. Watching the world come together, even temporarily, for the Olympics, for another, reminds us that unity is still possible and can grow to a more permanent unity and love for all.
There’s a lot going on in the world. But there’s also this: human beings at their best, doing extraordinary things, reminding us what we’re capable of when we refuse to give up.
That’s worth watching. And it’s definitely worth celebrating and living.
