For The Good of The Game

As the Olympics draw to a close I am saddened. Saddened becuase for these two weeks people see hard work pay off, dreams come true and character revealed. The Olympics display this better than any sporting event simply becuase they are founded on what sports are about. They are about heart, hard work, determination, perseverance, and the ability to side step and overcome obstacles whether they are personal or athletic related . If this doesn't inspire you, well you need to check yourself. There is no better feeling to an athlete than to see hard work pay off. It is one of the most indescribable feelings you can feel. You can't comprehend it until you feel it. For two weeks now, the world has seen these feelings captured on television. Watching from home, I can't help but feel restless and BEYOND excited to display my hard work. As an athlete there is no better feeling. I want to feel it again.

Don't get me wrong, it is not only these two weeks that I feel inspired. My goals are always on my mind. If you want to attain something greater you have to work constantly toward that goal covering all bases. There are times where giving up seems easier, or things you cannot control start to happen but that is not the time to give up, it is simply an opportunity to make you stronger. That is what the athletes in the Olympics go through. If you are an athlete it is what you go through to build these characteristics that complete you as a player. They are all necessary to mold you into the competitor you are when you compete.

There is no greater feat than to watch an athlete conquer his/her demons. The things that help you stray from your goal are essentially demons. Throughout the Olympics, athletes are stacked against their competition, people's expectations, their own expectations and it gets heavy to carry all of that without knowing that the way you have trained, and almost numbed yourself to get through that training, has helped create an armor to unleash your talent at the moment when it is all on the line. When you have it all to loose or all to gain. It is not the time to play it safe. All those hours grinding are not meant for a time where you try to just get by. They are meant for you to put it all on the line and take what you've worked for. When athletes fall it isn't sad, it seems empowering. Not because they lost but because they weren't afraid to fail. Things happen that are out of our control but the relentless pursuit of victory does not allow competitors to go in half hearted.

That's what I love about sports.