I don't have much time for a post since my luggage is all packed and the last item to go inside is this very laptop, so I shall try to be brief.

Today was less hectic, though we spent it all in the LONGEST meeting ever, haha. At least it was all interesting content and we were able to take lots of tiny breaks. They brought up three panelists to talk about their different Paralympic experiences. We had a lesson in basic Chinese language and etiquette. We had a briefing on personnel and Village etceteras. We had some brief media training. Took individual and team photos and signed miles of posters. I've lost track of all the odds and ends we covered today.

We're all packed up (except for me, of course) and I'm a little vague on the timing, but the gear needs to be up at Athlete check-in soon to be shipped off to Denver ahead of us. Then sometime this evening we go down to the cafeteria for breakfast, and then start our day of travel through the night. Or something. I think our flight from Denver to San Fran is at six in the morning? I forget. Honestly, my plan is to sleep whenever and wherever I can, because once we're on the flight to China we're going to be genuinely awake and trying to adjust to China time. I'm trying not to think about it because if I did I'd get hopelessly confused and they've paid for more intelligent people than I to go over these details and plan our logistics. So I'll trust them instead and do as I'm told. :)

I was really inspired by some of the stories the panelists told, and hopefully I'll be able to go over the details soon, since I took notes, and a couple photos... but for now, I'll leave you with a poem that John, the lead speaker whose name I cannot remember, finished with.

---

If
by Rudyard Kipling
circa 1895


If you can keep your head when all about you
Are losing theirs and blaming it on you;
If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you,
But make allowance for their doubting too;
If you can wait and not be tired by waiting,
Or, being lied about, don't deal in lies,
Or, being hated, don't give way to hating,
And yet don't look too good, nor talk too wise;

If you can dream - and not make dreams your master;
If you can think - and not make thoughts your aim;
If you can meet with triumph and disaster
And treat those two impostors just the same;
If you can bear to hear the truth you've spoken
Twisted by knaves to make a trap for fools,
Or watch the things you gave your life to broken,
And stoop and build 'em up with wornout tools;

If you can make one heap of all your winnings
And risk it on one turn of pitch-and-toss,
And lose, and start again at your beginnings
And never breath a word about your loss;
If you can force your heart and nerve and sinew
To serve your turn long after they are gone,
And so hold on when there is nothing in you
Except the Will which says to them: "Hold on";

If you can talk with crowds and keep your virtue,
Or walk with kings - nor lose the common touch;
If neither foes nor loving friends can hurt you;
If all men count with you, but none too much;
If you can fill the unforgiving minute
With sixty seconds' worth of distance run -
Yours is the Earth and everything that's in it,
And - which is more - you'll be a Woman, my daughter,
and a Man, my son!


(final lines adapted by speaker)

One more quick post before I leave. Yesterday I had the privilege of going to my old middle school and talking to some 8th grade students about archery. They are in some sort of Gifted & Talented class studying Heroes, and so a lot of what I talked about was the "hero's journey" and how I got where I am today—as well as how easy it would be for any of them to follow in my footsteps or strike out on their own paths. I brought my bow and a quiver full of arrows, which never fails to impress.

The best part, I felt, was being able to help them realize, even for a moment, that they had the same potential I did when I started archery in 8th grade. I gestured to one guy and said "You might be the world’s greatest ping-pong player, and you don’t even know it yet!" and to a young lady at the other side of the class, "You could be a really fast swimmer, but how would you know if you never hopped in the pool to find out?" and on and on, till they were blinking and grinning at me. In a way, I felt like I was passing the torch, so to speak. They were very receptive and asked some incredibly astute questions. I walked out of the class feeling as if I might have inspired some of them.

The strangest thing is that it wasn’t scary. None of this local publicity stuff has been the least bit frightening so far. Back before Athens, I would have been terrified to do anything like that. In fact, I only consented to do a single news spot that can now be found on my YouTube channel, and even then I was very nervous the whole time. Now that I see how harmless a lot of this is—indeed, how helpful it is to hear virtually every person I know come up and wish me luck—I wish I’d been more open to it four years ago. Once again, I am made to realize that embracing the thing we fear the most is the best thing we can ever do, because it transforms that fear into something positive. Why couldn’t I see that when I was younger? It would have helped so much.

I can’t tell you how much your support has meant to me. Every last one of you. From the random phone calls at odd hours to the long cheerful emails that seem to just keep on rolling in… all the hands I’ve shaken, all the hundreds of hugs I’ve shared, each smile, each "good luck" or "I’ll pray for you" or "we love you no matter what happens" brings me the most joy I've ever felt concentrated into one space of time. Can you overdose on gratitude? Because even while I feel humbled, I also feel as if I’m a stronger, more confident person because of every single one of you, and there is no "thank you" big enough to cover that feeling.

I’m finally finished packing, and I've checked every list a hundred times. I'm so ready to stop worrying about all this and just GO already! I leave tomorrow at o'dark thirty, and will be in Colorado Springs at the Olympic Training Center until Tuesday, when I fly to Beijing. Thanks so much again, everyone!

I just printed out my official itinerary and the team packing reminder lists. Somehow, having the paperwork here in my hands makes it feel so much more real and immediate. Perhaps I'm just getting in touch with my inner bureaucrat, haha.

I need to print some business cards and update some playlists on my iPod. Also... After much deliberation, I have decided to take my laptop along. I heard there was wi-fi in the rooms, so I thought why not? Now I'm trying to remember what everyone's suggestions were for cleaning up my computer. Several have suggested backing everything up and wiping the computer clean, but the very idea of it makes me twitchy. What if I need some of these files? Some music, or a picture, or a word doc? I have no idea, I'm probably just getting antsy and overthinking things.

Three days till I leave home.
Five days till I leave for China.
Nine days till Opening Ceremonies.
Twelve days till competition.