I've enjoyed watching the winter Olympics in Torino and I imagine you have as well. It's great to see these athletes from all over the world compete to win for their home country. For each athlete, the competition starts with a goal and hopefully ends with the gold. In between is the long, hard work.
Often we watch an athlete become a household name virtually overnight. Of course, their Olympic victory occurred in an instant, but the effort that lead them there required years and years of painstaking preparation and demanding self-discipline. Most of these efforts go unseen by those of us who view the Olympics from the comfort of our home. Can you imagine...years and years of effort and then a few key moments to generate the result. With just a moment to prove yourself and bring home a medal for your country, these athletes go the extra mile with their training. They give up a great deal of the of the so-called fun that that their peers enjoy so they can take their shot at the gold. Years of practice and repitition and mental and physical discipline all culmanating in an event or two squeezed into a two week period. We would all do well to run our lives like these world class athletes prepare for their sport.
What I enjoy most is the excuse-free bubble of the Olympic games. For each event, there is a bronze, silver, and gold. That's it. Even if you work hard, you may come up short as far as the medals are concerned. Time and effort are not rewarded when it comes to Olympic competition, only results. If you slip and fall, that's it. If you're in a bad mood, the event goes on. Nobody really cares about your problems. If you're sick, it is a shame but the event goes on. It's amazing how few sick days these athletes have during the Olympics. When results, and only results, get rewarded great performances surface. What a model? What did you learn from the Olympics?
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