Olympic Lessons: 5 Things We Can Learn

Let the Games begin!

This month the world is watching as our passionate, talented and hopeful athletes gather for the Summer Olympics.  Despite the protests, strong feelings about its location, surrounding world events and unimaginable tragedy at the Games, it’s quite a thing to watch!  I love watching the Games, and bearing witness to its realized dreams.  For many of these athletes, it will set the scene for the rest of their lives, good and bad.

While there is so much to take in, it’s not hard to see the life lessons when I watch the Olympics:

1. Nothing replaces hard work.  Anything in life that is worth having isn’t easy.  It takes dedication and commitment, sometimes in the face of impossible odds.
2. Winning with your friends around rocks. The best stories are when two fierce competitors strike up a friendship.  The reality is, however, that one of them will win and one will lose.  What warms my soul is a heartfelt hug and “congratulations” from the one without a medal.
3. Life isn’t always fair. Thru the whole saga of the Games one moment, one move, one look the wrong way and you lose.  Welcome to life.  Losing makes winning sweeter and focus sharper.
4. Everyone has a story. One of the “oldest” Olympians in history, the kid whose mother put him in swimming because she knew he needed an outlet for his boundless energy or the swimmer who was disqualified four years ago and came back to win gold.  These personalities and stories bring tears for a loss and unbridled cheers for a win.
5. We really can all get along. I was a Rotary exchange student in high school in Japan.  Like many  before me and many yet to come, it was an eye-opening experience.  I left part of my heart in Nemuro, Hokkaido and carry part of its spirit with me today.  The truth is, no matter where we are from or what we look like, we’re essentially all the same.  The Olympic Games represent so many different people working toward a common dream:  to be the best.  Isn’t that really what we’re all doing?

What inspires you about the Olympic Games?

(photo by denis collette, on Flickr.com)