Special Olympic Edition Post

If ever there was a time to learn about passion, it’s from watching the Olympics. Can anyone doubt the passion of an Olympic competitor? Going for the gold includes substantial sacrifice and training for years just to compete. As I see each athlete taking the stage whether part of a team or individually, I wonder what kept them going. Was their satisfaction in the journey of training? No, it was in the destination. They wanted gold, or a medal, or at least to represent the country.

Pains and feelings of giving up are natural. They don’t signify a lack of passion; they’re merely human response. The body wants to give up… but pushing it makes it stronger. Same with the mind, it will reach its limit and need support from others. Both body and mind are stretched to the point where eventually they have standing potential.

What does this mean for us? It means passion is not about continuous enjoyment… at least not in the long run. I may have made a fatal mistake presuming that the two must coincide fully. The intense training and testing of your passion is what makes it stronger and proves its existence. It’s almost like a Catch-22 though. You have passion for something. You will give up other things for it. And it leads you to pain and times of trouble. But for getting through those times, you show your passion all the more. If you give up, then it was not your passion? I’m not sure I can answer that.

This is quite an eye-opener for me. Not in the revelation sense but more as a difficult reminder. I like something but the moment I find discomfort or resistance, I stay where I am at. Not trying to overcome it… or push myself. I have a particular threshold that if it’s overly uncomfortable, I won’t do it. Now is that the best approach? Of course not… it is going through the pain that allows us to grow. To what extent…? That may be the hardest question yet.

To be honest, the Olympics have inspired me to change some things about the way I am living my life.