Although I was a gymnast for seventeen years, I haven’t done anything harder than a handstand without the assistance of a trampoline for at least the last five. Nevertheless, there are certain skills you develop as a gymnast that stay with you for life. Here are the top ten:

1. How to wash your hair with one hand because it hurts like hell to get shampoo in a rip.
2. How to change leotards in a parking lot without committing indecent exposure because the line for the bathroom at the meet was too long, also how to pee without taking off your leotard.
3. How to turn your hair into cement with the right combination of hair products where you can take the rubber band out of your hair and still have a ponytail, also how to cut tiny rubber bands out of your hair without cutting your hair along with it.
4. How to shave your legs, arm pits, and bikini line in thirty seconds in a shower of any size
5. How to pick up clothing, pencils, etc. with your toes.
6. How to flush toilets and open doors with your feet – yay for flexibility!
7. How to do read and write in the car without getting carsick – because the car ride to/from practice was your only time to get homework done.
8. How to sleep and do homework while in the splits or otherwise bent in half.
9. How to ride public transportation without having to hold on anything without losing your balance.
10. How to eat a full meal before working out and not have any issues.

By far, the best skill that comes from being a gymnast is the ability to focus, compartmentalize, and stay determined. I’ve heard from several former gymnasts that being in this sport gave them the ability to work through physical and emotional pain and “go on with the show” when they’d rather curl up and cry. As my coach, Rocky, used to say, “It’s only hard.”

Once a gymnast, always a gymnast. It’s been over a decade since my last competition and I love that some people can tell I was gymnast by the way I walk and carry myself. Gymnastics is more than a sport; it’s a way of life.