Gratitude Friday 08 23 24 The Olympiads

“So you wish to conquer in the Olympic Games, my friend? And I, too... But first mark the conditions and the consequences. You will have to put yourself under discipline; to eat by rule, to avoid cakes and sweetmeats; to take exercise at the appointed hour whether you like it or not, in cold and heat; to abstain from cold drinks and wine at your will. Then, in the conflict itself you are likely enough to dislocate your wrist or twist your ankle, to swallow a great deal of dust, to be severely thrashed, and after all of these things, to be defeated.” ― Epictetus, The Discourses with the Enchiridion and Fragments

The Olympic Games are around 3,000 years old, with written record of the games being traced back to 776 BC. We don’t really know how they started or why, and there is perhaps as much mythology mixed in as known facts. What is true is that it is a competition for people to be the best they can be and to push to the limits of human capability.  

In our modern times, the Olympic games were resurrected in 1896, with those games attracting 280 athletes from 12 countries. In the 2024, Paris games there were 10,500 athletes from 206 counties. They are a true Global competition. Often these games become a source of national pride and competition. The most notable of these were the 1936 Berlin Games in Nazi Germany, were intended to showcase the superiority of Aryan genetics but instead showcased exceptionalism like Black American runner Jesse Owens set a world record as the fastest man on earth. Fellow track athlete Louis Zamperini was the youngest American to qualify, he was so poor that he gained weight on the voyage across the Atlantic as it was the first time he had access to food three times a day. Zamperini earned his medals in the Pacific theatre less than a decade later.

I don’t even care for sports, yet there is something truly inspirational to me about the Olympic games and what they showcase. People striving to their best at the very limits of human capability and endurance. Just getting to the Olympics makes everyone of the 10,500 who competed heroes in my book.

A few years back, I had dinner with some colleagues and was privileged to meet three-time US Olympic Gold Medal Swimmer Carrie Bates. She is a person in long-term recovery who uses her time to speak to the needs of the mental health of our athletes. During that meal, the things she spoke about changed my perspectives on these heroes and the challenges they face. She is an advocate for them. She recently spoke about these very same issues on an NBC piece that these athlete’s face. She also told me about the movie, the Weight of Gold, that focuses on the pressures of winning and how little the majority of these athletes get out of their efforts over the long term.

One of the concepts of the Olympics was to channel our innate competitiveness as a species into games rather than war. In our conflict riddled world, we can hope that more energy goes into games of sport rather than combat. The Olympics are an opportunity to see other cultures and stand side by side with other nations. To acknowledge the fundamental truths of our commonalities rather than getting mired in our differences to the point we harm and kill each other.

We have funded the games and these sports by putting Olympiads images on things to sell products. They endorse cereal on cereal boxes and soap on laundry detergent commercials. Maybe instead, we should create a fund and have them go around to communities across the country to talk about what they learned through their long and hard journeys to become excellent. To talk about what they are doing when they cheer a competitor who does better than them. To share about overcoming health struggles and other barriers to get back in the pool, or onto the track of the uneven bars and practice for years just to see what they can do if they give all of their effort. Or even how they coped with life after the games were over and their physical capabilities faded with age.

I suspect that these are messages we could use right now. Athletes could share some things about hard work and effort and sportsmanship that would have great value to our society. We should not let them fade from our memories and drift from our view as they have things to teach us that we need to learn. At least in my humble opinion.

Thank you Paris, the city of light, for hosting the 2024 Summer games. Thank you, athletes, from around the world who show us what it means to compete, in peace with mutual positive regard for each other and camaraderie. Afterall, as Neil Armstrong noted when he went to the moon, “It suddenly struck me that that tiny pea, pretty and blue, was the Earth. I put up my thumb and shut one eye, and my thumb blotted out the planet Earth. I didn't feel like a giant anymore.” We are fellow travelers on a bit of rock lost in the immenseness of cold space. Thank you to the 2024 Olympiads for reminding us, we can achieve greatness in ways that lift each other up and not drag each other down. I am grateful for them.

What are you grateful for today?