I know I am a big fan of both the Winter and Summer Olympics. There are not very many other opportunities for countries all around the world to bring their very best to battle it out against their neighboring nations for the spot of number one. The spot of the best team or the best individual athlete. They get to have their entire nations back home rooting for them. Rooting for their number and their last name. They get to have little boys and girls sitting in front of their television and truly being inspired. Inspired to be better athletes. Inspired to be more active and healthier. Inspired to be better students and better sons and daughters. They inspire people of all ages simply by showing up, and showing what they are truly made of. It’s truly beautiful.
What country was the country that hosted the first Olympics you can remember watching? Who was your favorite athlete? Did they bring home the gold for you and your nation? Or perhaps they were the athlete who got injured, but yet they gutted it out and finished their event. Maybe the first place isn’t always as important as seeing the true courage and tenacity of the human spirit. To push through the pain and blood, and somehow finish what they started. To finish what they spent a childhood fine-tuning and crafted into a true work of art.
Sometimes that is even more precious than that symbolic gold medal around their neck. When we get glimpses of real people at the peak of their careers and the top of their games. People who genuinely bring it when the moment is right. It’s glorious.
