I’m not sure why I’m more passionate and glued to the screen with this year’s games than any previous Olympics, but these past couple days have been filled with tears of pure compassion, pride and joy. Do I know any of these Olympians personally? Nope. But it doesn’t stop me from feeling their dreams.
The night of the opening ceremony, as I was wiping tears down my cheeks, I posted this on my Facbook page:
What it must be – to have such overwhelming passion and drive – to sacrifice your entire life to follow your dream, take your talents to their destiny. All your pain and suffering, we’ll never be able to fully know.
Getting back up with each fall – pushing yourself again and again.
Just to have a spot on that floor, is beyond comprehension.
What it must feel like to be one of them – to be one of their parents, best friends, children, teachers.
Let the games begin. You earned this.
Then I came across this two-minute ad, I wanted to share – especially with my mommy-friends:
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The Olympics for me, are so much more than the competitions themselves. They’re the canvas, for the hearts of everyone who helped each athlete, unfolding for the world to share in their glory of following their dream.
Whether they medal or not, they’re all golden to me.
Christine Macdonald 
For some reason, I have never been interested in watching sports on television. I like reading what people write about their experiences watching them, such as yours, but for me for some reason watching television is hard enough, and watching anything athletic just causes me to zone out. If I know a glimpse of an athlete’s story though, it does make me care more!
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I’m not really a big sports gal at all, but it’s the back stories that I love so much. Watching their parents and people cheering them on – knowing how much they sacrificed to get there. That’s the stuff that gets me. I was crying like a baby after learning about the gymnast from the Bronx, John Orozco. There are so many stories like that! 🙂
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Yes, that is the thing that gets me too! I also do not have actual television channels…so it prevents me from even indulging my moments of curiosity, such as this one. It’s awesome that you can find the inspiration 🙂
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Ohhh, I’ll have to send you some on-line clips! Hee hee.. Yes, I’m a real ball-of-mush right now. 🙂
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I guess that your emotional reaction is a sign of maturity. You are more aware of what makes someone work that hard and all that they have to overcome to reach that point.
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Thanks Mark. xo
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I have always gotten intense about the Olympics too because it is real life dram that transcends sports. You mention the back stories and I think that is certainly part of it. Every single person competing it seems started with a DREAM, their Dream to FLY. In some countries such as Iraq for instance, people have literally risked their lives to compete in the past…to be a part of history, to live their DREAM.
I also like that it is big time sport but the athletes are not doing it for the money…no it’s for a much larger cause.
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Agree completely. I’m rooting for Team USA, naturally, but everyone from every country is getting my applause and support. xo
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Dang, now my makeup is all messed up. Women are amazing, thanks for sharing!
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I’ve not worn mascara since the opening ceremonies! Baha! Thanks for reading and commenting, Lovely!
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I’m having a very hard time being interested in the Olympics. Don’t get me wrong, I get the sacrifices and hard work that comes into being a first class athlete and being chosen to compete in an international event. However I do believe that we (as a society) give too much importance on sports. Athletes are paid insane salaries – NBA, NFL, NHL, everything else that I’m not aware of – while the rest of us, who have made equally hard sacrifices and have worked equally hard can barely make up rent at the end of the month. As a pianist, I’m not saying that I’m more important than an athlete – but I’ve spent countless hours locked in a practice room and spent thousands of dollars on equipment, lessons, education, travel for auditions, etc. It’s not the same discipline or field, but ambitious people are all working towards one goal that they cherish and are all sweating their butts off trying to get there. I’ll never get a gold medal for this, though. My country will never root for me in an event opposing musicians all around the world (and no, let’s not even try to compare the Grammys to the Olympics…but that’s a whole other issue).
What about the best businessmen, who work countless hours to make their business run and give jobs to individuals who otherwise would be without a salary? What about social workers who spend their days going from one house to another to make sure that kids are safe in their homes? What about nurses, who work one shift after the other and dedicate their entire days and nights to the care of other individuals? What about teachers, who spend their days teaching in the classroom then go home at night to prepare lessons and correct papers to ensure our kids’ education? What about policemen and women who risk their life to maintain law and order in our neighborhoods? I think these are equally as heroic and impressive, yet they’ll never get a medal for it. They’ll never go down in history.
I do find it inspiring that once every so often, the entire world seems to come together in peace to celebrate life and accomplishments – just can’t get behind the event, though. But that’s just my two cents.
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I admire the athletes. But I don’t watch the Olympics.
Great ad.
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