Olympic Size Virtues
I love all kinds of different sports and athletic competitions. Having competed myself in several different arenas, I have a great appreciation of what athletes who compete on a high level put themselves through both mentally and physically. And there are few events that I like more to see this displayed than the Olympics.
I know that there are a lot of skeptics out there that really have a tendency to focus on the controversies of the Olympics that surround any world-class sport. However, in my mind, it is as close to pure competition that we will find today at that level.
One of the things that I love about the Olympics is that for 99% of the athletes it is humbling to be there and they are so proud to represent something bigger then themselves. Most of them toil at their respective sports in virtual obscurity for years. No big contracts, or endorsements, or becoming household names, but holding on to the dream of one day competing for that elusive Olympic Metal.
I found it hilarious last week when I heard that some professional football players had gone to the NFL’s head office and complained that their pre-season training camp was too hard. An ex-football player/sportscaster could not believe it either but felt that some of the younger players in the league were concerned with getting hurt and thus devaluing them as players for future contracts. Obviously not Olympic athletes.
Olympic athletes have taken certain virtues to a level that most of us will never comprehend let alone experience.
The first virtue is passion. Whether it is love, fear, or hate, most Olympians are driven. At this point in their lives they have nailed down what they love and what defines them and they have harnessed that drive and will ride it to the end.
It saddens me to see however that in our watered-down-instant-gratification society, that few adults are passionate about anything (including their marriages and their children), which leaves a void of good models for our young people to help them understand how to work hard for something that doesn’t have a reset button.
But even if they had passion, that alone would not take them to where they want to go without discipline. The Apostle Paul, who was familiar with the ancient Greek Olympics wrote, “I beat my body and make it my slave so that…I myself will not be disqualified for the prize.” When the “feeling” of passion fades and the Olympian cannot imagine getting out of bed at 4:30am for the 2,637th time to beat his body into submission one more time, it is discipline that puts his feet back on the floor.
In addition, it is important to know that the weak minded don’t make it to the Olympics. Discipline requires mental toughness. The ability to train your mind to focus only on the goal. Not giving in to external or internal distractions under the most stressful and adverse conditions. Whether that is extreme physical pain, emotional pain, the jeering of an angry crowd, or complete silence in front of 15,000 people as you have one dive left that you must nail to be on the awards podium.
That is why I love the Olympics. Because I know that each person that has earned his or her way there has sacrificed much more than I will ever understand. And it inspires me to search my heart and define what my passions are. And then to set goals and establish disciplines in my life to reach those goals. And when the going gets tough, and I become distracted by all the things that this world has to throw at me, I strain to become mentally tougher so that I am disciplined enough to … “beat my body and make it my slave so that…I myself will not be disqualified for the prize.”
Mark Todhunter, M.A. is a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist, Professional Life Coach, Conference
and Seminar speaker, and columnist and has
worked with couples, families and children for
the past 23 years.