what we can all learn from this amazing athlete.
By now you’ve all seen this picture and/or the video of Alysa Liu winning the gold at the Milan 2026 Olympics
20 years old and one of the wisest, smartest humans on the planet.
Why do I say this?
If you don’t know her story, you should Google it. After a disappointing showing at the last Olympics, she hung up her skates, stopped skating altogether, and did what a normal teenager should do. She hung out with friends, started college, and basically took a mental health break away from the grueling competition mindset because she couldn’t find the joy in skating any longer.
Alysa loved ice skating since the moment she went on skates. But that love became tarnished when the stress of always being in competitive mode took a toll on her. So, she stepped away and rediscovered her life, and eventually, her love of skating again just for the sheer joy of it.
If you watched her performance last week, you saw a confident, happy, strong – both physically and mentally – young woman who was doing what she loved and didn’t care if she won a medal or not. She is a true performer, and you could see how much she loved her sport and how much she was enjoying herself while she skated with billions of eyes on her. Throughout her program she never lost her smile; her sass; her absolute euphoria at skating.
And for the girl who didn’t care if she medaled or not, she took home the biggest prize of all ( and I don’t mean just the gold medal, which of course, she won). She took home the fact that when you take time and simply enjoy what you are doing because you love it more than anything else, you will always be a winner.
We’ve seen this attitude before.
Remember Simone Biles at the last 2 Olympics? She quit one because of the mental stressors coming at her from every angle. She lost her focus and desire to compete and began doubting herself. So she stopped competing, took a break and just took time to be Simone Biles, young woman, not Olympic gymnast. And with time, she regained her love for the sport, came back, competed, and won – both physically, mentally, and, of course, medally!
What have these two beautiful, talented, and strong women shown us?
First and foremost, your mental health is everything. In any part of life, be it competition, your job, your marriage, anything, if you are struggling with stress, depression, fear, you will not be the best person you can be or experience happiness.
Second, it’s okay to step away. Ignore the critics who say you are copping out. They don’t live in your head. Ignore the nay-sayers. Get over the disappointment on the faces of people. They don’t get to shame you for something you are struggling with. Surround yourself with the people who truly believe in you- you the person, not the athlete, or writer, or any other profession.
I have struggled often in the past 11 years with my writing career. No sales, poor reviews, not feeling motivated to put myself out there to do all the social media crap and publicity authors need to do to get their work in front of readers. Lost revenue from events where I paid out thousands and didn’t sell one book. I struggle daily with anxiety that I am not good enough, my writing sucks, and there’s a monumental reason no one is reading what I write.
But I haven’t stepped away. I’ve barreled through because that’s what I was always told to do. My generation ( gen Jones) were pushed by parents, teachers, bosses, and told to “buck up” and “get over it,” and all that has done is increase my anxiety.
This is why I say Alysa Liu is one of the smartest people on the planet. She walked away from something she loved when her joy abated and her spirit was stressed. I don’t consider what she did a fault at all. I am proud of her and anyone who makes this decision. The world right now is a dark, sad, frightening place. I struggle daily with trying to write light and fluffy romance to help bring a few hours of happiness to readers, a few hours of escape from the issues surrounding us all when I am in constant fear of my rights being torn away and my granddaughter havinga future where she doesn’t have autonomy over herself and her body. I never thought I would need to escape those issues, too, but Alysa and Simone, although they are generations and decades younger than I am, have taught me it’s okay to stop; to say no to more pressure; to take care of yourself when no one else will. And in doing so, you can come back on your own terms, hopefully with your joy restored and your focus sharp once again.
Who says you can’t teach an old dog – or a post menopausal romance writer – something new?
~ peg
Peggy Jaeger, Author 