I’ve been pretty busy this past week or so and sadly haven’t been able to catch much of the Olympics in London. I end up seeing results or what’s happening on Twitter or the news.
I love seeing the write ups and video commentary on the athletes. It’s all very inspiring and uplifting to see how hard they have worked.
Then there are the jerks. (Yes, I said jerks…my favourite word these days for a person who can’t contain their negativity).
So many headlines that read something like “athlete comes up short to only get a silver medal” What?? ONLY?? Geesh this person is SECOND IN THE WORLD and most likely by a split hair of a millisecond. And the kicker is the person writing this most likely is not even a silver medalist themselves.
So what happened to the joyous celebration before the competition? What happened to being proud of our sons and daughters for all that they accomplish, overcome and the work they do? Suddenly it’s not good enough?
Bollocks.
This is a lot of what’s wrong with our own attitudes towards ourselves.
Guess what? Play that game again, swim one more lap or dive once more round and it all could change. Just like life…it can all change very easily. Even if you attain perfection (and good luck with that) it is very fleeting.
The goal is not and should not be the end all, be all of your world. Your essence is not a moment in time. You are the accumulation of millions of moments; some good and some bad.
You are so much more than missing a target now and again so why define yourself by it?
I hope instead of “only second’ we can change that to “holy crap they are freakin second!-They ROCKED it!” (read with a very excited voice please). And I hope you can change that way of thinking for yourself too. In fact I hope we can change it to “holy crap, look how hard they’ve worked, how far they’ve come and what great people they are”. But one step at a time.
Cuz baby…you are rocking this life! Love yourself for it; celebrate all that you have and all that you are. There is always another day, another play and another player.
Our attitude gets us stuck so often and when the media hype makes winning the only thing that matters, why do people try. We can only do our best each and every day and we need to help athletes and people everywhere that doing our best is all that ever really matters and if someone is disappointed that we didn’t win and we did our best then that is there problem not ours. Lets get rid of the media and perhaps twitter too.
I have never been a fan of the Olympics, primarily for the jingoistic circus that surrounds it….But, on the note of being First, Second, or Third…. Let us not forget that many of the elite (non-tax paying) corporate entities in the world know, that while they want to be first, they will stay and compete in any market where they are first, second OR third. (If not, then, they usually sell that market to a more appropriate owner.)
I’m with you on this one. There was a time when olympians were proud of any medal they won and their countrymen were proud for them. This “second place is the first loser” mentality has been around for about 20 years now, and it needs to go. I’ve watched grown men crying on TV because they “only” won a silver medal.
“The early bird may get the worm – but the second mouse gets the cheese”.
So there is something for everyone, I guess…
I kensbackhome! Thank you for that. How sad that its such an all or nothing mentality for us today.
I think you are right…and I LOVE that saying…how have I never heard that the ‘second mouse gets the cheese” Awesome~!
I wrote something similar a few months back… and I totally agree with you! Those jerks! All the hard work that goes into any dream and goal is not wasted just because someone else bested your time! You are still a winner because you accomplished what many do not. The saying goes, “it’s not whether you win or lose, it’s how you play the game.” All lost on being #1.
I love when others are ‘with’ me on this wave length PeggyLee. My grandmother used to tell me not to worry about winning or losing because there is always someone bigger, better or faster eventually. Just go play. Translates nicely to the grownup world doesn’t it?
I just read an update on FB that said “who remembers the second man who stepped on the moon, be first”. Messages like these make it tough because we then start judging ourselves even if we end up being good at something but not “the best”! It does become a tough battle!
It can be really deflating. Not that we shouldn’t try to be first or to win and celebrate all that comes with doing this I just think dismissing those who’ve made amazing accomplishments simply because they are not first is foolish and so negative.
Our world needs inspiration, it needs leaders and those with courage and soul. We need to pump that up, not tear it down!