What (or who”> inspires you everyday?
For any of the us, the answer would include our mom. From her constant support to her unconditional love, she is a huge reason for why some of us do what we do for the world. Without Mom’s love, who would we be? The better question might be, where would we be? I recently spoke with USA Bobsled Olympian Elana Meyers Taylor as part of Procter & Gamble’s latest release for their Thank You, Mom series: Love Over Bias. Here’s her story.
Lots of things inspire me.
Of course my parents and family come to mind, but I don’t get to see them everyday. So if I had to narrow it down to one thing, it would clearly be my husband Nic, who is also a world class bobsledder. He is an amazingly supportive husband, and also an amazing coach, trainer, therapist and all around partner.
My mom knew I had an Olympic dream to play softball, but that got derailed. She saw bobsled on TV and knew I had the right physique to have potential in the sport so she said, “Hey, you could be good at that, maybe that’s the ticket to the Olympics.” And guess what? Mom was right.
The minute I realized this could be possible and that maybe, one day, take me to the Olympics, I was all in!
It is the foundation of the confidence I have to take on the world. Any challenge it may throw my way or I may choose to pursue, derived from a lifetime of unconditional love she and my father gave to me, which has made me the person I am today.
I have felt different and alone countless times.
I am of mixed race and ethnicity and I’m a big, strong and powerful woman who has competed with and against girls, boys, women and men my whole life. I’m different in lots of ways and proud to be so. My wish is to be part of a growing voice of people, of all people, who believe in the general goodness of people, and believe that being a good person has nothing to do with all of the things that makes us different. I want to be a loud voice in that. I want to be part of drowning out any noise made by haters, and I want to part of helping people reshape narrow minded views.
We are absolutely bombarded with media coverage of the things that divide people.
Sadly, that sort of thing is everywhere. See this film. Share this film. Talk about this film. Because if there is one thing that I believe we all share, every single one of us, everywhere, around the world, one thing that connects us all… it’s a mother’s love. Everyone understands that.
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When the world sees differences, a mom sees boundless potential. For the Winter Olympics 2018, we’re honoring a mom’s role in helping her kids overcome the world’s bias. Just imagine what the world could be if we all saw each other through a mom’s loving eyes. Thank you, Mom.
Read next: How This Olympian’s Mom Taught Her to Disregard the Odds
Learn more about P&G’s series here.
