from Kal Barteski
In our household, we’ve had a long standing tradition of a simple supper on Sunday nights in front of the TV…which means one day a week we giggle together over something that we can converse over…like “America’s Got Talent”, or “Undercover Boss”. The other six days we sit around a table and converse with each other.
Thats a deliberate choice to put aside technology/media and just connect with each other.
Except for these two weeks.
The Olympics.
We’re making exceptions now…and dinner is in front of Olympics.
I like the sports, for sure. But I love the stories that are a part of it…the humanness of it all…the real moments of joy and defeat…the stories…oh, the stories.
Love. the. stories. I love how, when Paula Findlay apologized to her country for doing so poorly, that tweets of encouragement and support flowed in. I love how she was a trooper and finished, even though it was gonna be a lousy time. She finished, and that’s classy…and Christie Blatchford at the National Post wrote:
“There’s something noble about being last and still making yourself finish, when you just want to stop and cry. Seems big and human to me.”
Now that’s a message to take home.
I love how Oscar Pretorius, the 400 meter runner who runs on prosthetics was approached by Kirani James the victor of the semi final so they could exchange bibs…Oscar came in last, but he made history…and James wanted to remember it. This moment of connection that he wanted to remember always.
It wasn’t about winning, it was about celebrating how the line between abled and disabled disappeared.
I honor how Clara Hughes came in fifth, out of the medals and was happy with her performance. She did GREAT…she knew it, and chose not to be disappointed because four people did it better than her. She didn’t use her recently fractured vertebrae as an excuse (though she had every right to)…she wanted something and she powered through the pain…we can learn something for that and for what she said in how she wanted to be remembered:
“I think I can win with a smile and I can lose with a smile as well, because I never fail in emptying myself in what I do. I never fail in approaching what I do in the best way. So that’s what I’m most satisfied with, and I hope that people will maybe remember the way I did what I did, not what I did, but the way in which I did it.”
Now that’s a message my tribe can hear. All. Day. Long.
I love the goofy, viral video of Aly Raisman’s parents living her uneven parallel bars with her. We laughed at our house when we saw it on TV…these are parents who root for and care about their child.
(While we’re getting the kinks out on the new site, you’ll have to click on the blog post title to be able to view the video as a video, not as a jumble of code. The “website guy” is on vacation so we’ won’t get this repaired for a few weeks)
We all need examples of parents who are attuned to their kids, who love their children and are root for them.
I love how 17 year old American swimmer Missy Franklin spoke of beginning to cry when she saw her parents in the crowd. To see this woman set world records and win gold medals and handle her world wide notoriety with grace and a big smile, and then turn into the normal adolescent as she melts into giggles when remembering that Justin Bieber tweeted her is pretty darn cute. And its just simply fun the video that the swim team put together…just fun.
The lesson: athletes are more than their sport. We are all more than what is on the surface. We are humans who long for joy
The Olympics can be charged with being a big business, for putting too much pressure on the athletes, for all sorts of nasty stuff…I get that. But they are happening…and there are so many moments that inspire us with poignancy
- As athletes persevere through stress and distress to play hard.
- As they pursue something they are passionate about.
- As they “put it all on the line” and go hard.
- As many compete for the joy of competing knowing a medal isn’t an option, but getting a personal best score or time could be.
- As humanity meets and says that being together is worth it.
Just a few days left…I’ll miss them when they are over.
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