In her autobiography Running Tide legendary marathoner Joan Benoit tells of her childhood and how it made her a healthy person:

Page 19, Chapter One:

... Mom and Dad were trying to rear four happy, intelligent, useful, loving kids. What we did with the grounding they gave us was our business. ...

Page 33, Chapter Two:

There is no advice I can offer to young athletes that is more important than this: if you are lucky enough to spend your childhood in such a place [as her elementary school in Maine], surrounded by people who care about you and want you to be happy, do it. Maybe your climb to the top of your sport will be more difficult if you can't attend an academy for twenty-four-hour coaching; but then again, if you do fall there will be something underneath to catch you. When you look around to see who's manning the safety net, it will be you. A neat trick, and one I recommend.

(cf. Joan Benoit Samuelson (2008-01-06), ...) - ^z - 2008-02-14

(correlates: OnFailure, Joan Benoit Samuelson on Success and Failure, DavidCopperfieldOnBusyMischief, ...)