The Sky is Rearranging A journey from pieces to completed puzzles

Like many of Americans and people around the world, I have spent many hours in the last week watching the Olympics.  People gliding through the air on skis their bodies parallel to the ground in an effort to get the most of their jump, skimming across on the ice on skates with grace and beauty, firing down the track in a bobsled at 90 miles an hour, and yes, that ever controversial “sport” of pushing the rock with a broom to get to the house.  I have watched the athletes wipe out after a tremendous fall down the ski slopes only to get up and smile at their audience, knowing they did what they could on that particular day, with that particular run.  I have watched athletes cry as their hopes for a medal vanished when another athlete came from behind with a better score, and watched others cry as they stood atop the podium to receive their gold medal for a triumphant win.

As I have watched the skills of these athletes I have considered the number of hours spent in practice, the number of activities with friends and family they have missed out on to follow their Olympic dream, the number of falls and tumbles they have taken as they worked their way to world-class athlete.  I understand the sacrifices by the athletes as well as their families have been great.  I know the pain of losses in their fight to reach the top can seem insurmountable.  I also recognize the opportunities that these sacrifices have presented for the athlete.

Isn’t our path in life similar to an Olympic trial?  Each of us prepares with study, discipline, and sacrifices to succeed in our chosen “sport”.  We forgo the party with friends, the family vacation or even watching the Olympics on television to prepare ourselves for the race that we have chosen to run.  And then it happens…we fall, we miss the gate, we hit the ledge, or maybe we just wobble on the thin blades that we skate upon.  And for that moment in time we are out of the race.  We have a choice.  We can turn the disappointment of our failure into anger at those around us, which  we have seen in the past week of Olympic sports.  We can sit in the snow and let others come to carry us off the course.  We can get up,  smile and prepare to try again. 

My life has included all of the reactions to my failures.  In the end each us, Olympic athletes or the people just watching from afar, must decide how we will triumph; how we will reach the medal stand in life.  It seems to me that it is best to recognize our failures, learn from them and then get back on the ice and try again.  Oh yes, we will fall again, for that is what life is about.  But in the end, with the right discipline we too will receive our gold medal.