
Have you seen this woman before? Her name is Zhiying Zeng. She was born in 1966 to a mom who coached table tennis. She picked up a paddle as soon as she could hold it, joined a junior elite team at a military sports school in Beijing at age 11, and turned pro at age 12. In 1983, when she was 16, she was called up to the Chinese national team.
Like most other young athletes, she had aspirations to make the Olympic Games: “It was the biggest dream of my life,” she told CNN Sport. “Even when I was a little girl and they would ask me what my dream was, I would say: ‘Become an Olympian.’”.
A rule change in 1986 threw her off her game. “The rule killed my game,” she told The Guardian. “I felt weak, psychologically and technically”. So, 38 years ago, she left the national team and retired. In 1989, she moved to Chile to coach children. She started playing again in 2003 because she felt that her 13-year-old son was playing too many video games and wanted to introduce him to something more active. That strategy worked! Her son developed his own passion for table tennis, and Zeng still had skills, winning a few tournaments.
However she stopped again, focusing for the next 20 years, on running her furniture store but when the COVID-19 pandemic put her new country on lockdown, she picked up a paddle again. She bought a table just to stay active and played alone for hours a day.
In 2023, Zeng was Chile’s top-ranked woman and helped the country win a team bronze medal at the 2023 Pan American Games in Santiago. She secured her spot on the Olympic team at a tournament in Lima, Peru, this May. Her 92-year-old father stayed awake until 5 a.m. in China to watch his 58-year-old daughter qualify for the Paris 2024 Olympics, a dream he had seen since his daughter was a little girl and he would take her for table tennis training.
Why am I telling you about Zhiying Zeng?
Zeng thought she was perhaps too old to fulfill her dream of participating in the Olympics. It was not until she saw an old teammate, 61-year-old Ni Xialian, who is representing Luxembourg, still playing that she was inspired to try.
So, this is your call to reach for your dreams, whatever they may be. You are never too late or too old. Now is the time! Your dreams may seem too small, too silly, too big or too unimportant to those around you, but your dream is there for a reason. If you are a new mom now, and it feels out of reach, know that there is a time for everything and that time will come. You are doing an awesome job!
Marsha Norman, an American playwright, screenwriter, and novelist said:
“Dreams are illustrations. . .from the book your soul is writing about you.”
and Oprah Winfrey said:
“I believe every one of us is born with a purpose. No matter who you are, what you do, or how far you think you have to go, you have been tapped by a force greater than yourself to step into your God-given calling. This goes far beyond what you do to earn your living. I’m talking about a supreme moment of destiny, the reason you are here on earth.”
While our purpose may not be the Olympics, we have gifts and talents we can share with the world. It can be a simple as being a good listener, an inspirational coach or a powerful mama bear. Whatever your purpose, don’t give up! We are cheering you on 💖.
Tell us, in the comments below, what your dream is!?
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