I’m not proud to admit that I didn’t know how to feel when I first heard Simone Biles backed out of the team’s all-around competition. In my younger years, I was an athlete trained to put the team’s needs above my own. As a mother, I was trained to put the needs of my children above my own. As a wife, I’ve been told to put the needs of my husband above myself. The constant subliminal messaging was firmly woven into the fabric of my being: put the needs and welfare of others above your own—no matter what the cost.
