Oh no! Apolo Anton Ohno is gliding, gliding, looking for an opening, trying to slide inside or around the Canadian in the 500 meter short track. He puts his hand on the Canuck's hip and the red-jerseyed fatback-eater goes careening out of control. Ohno and J.R. Celski, the guy who survived when a skate blade slashed his leg in a nasty fall just five months before, skate on to silver and bronze.
But wait! The Canadian judge is looking at the tape. After further review, Ohno is disqualified, and the Canadian, despite being in a heap along the boards, wins the medal. O Canada, we stand on guard for thee. Never mind that in the same replay the Canadian gold medal winner is seen delivering the same hip nudge to a Korean skater. God keep our land, glorious and on the medal stand.
Like nothing else the Olympics embodies the human drama of athletic competition, with a little home cooking stirred in to spice things up. Ohno certainly has skated on the edge of the rules more than once. His gold medal in Salt Lake was questioned vehemently by the Koreans in a similar incident.
Imagine training for four years for one moment, and having it come down to a split second, a missed gate, an errant shot after 20 kilometers of skiing. I loved the Olympic coverage, particularly the human drama of Bob Costas and Al Michaels trying to share the commentary. They're doing the "wasn't it all wonderful" signoff and the facial gyrations of Michaels waiting to break in with his thoughts as Costas elocutes were marvelous. Costas talks, talks, pauses, no wait, he's starting another paragraph, and Michaels' face does a triple lutz and triple salchow as he looks for his opening.
He should have put his hand on Bob's hip and nudged him out of the way.
Monday, March 1, 2010
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This is the Way the Transformation Begins
"Some men see things as they are and say why? I dream things that never were and say "Why not?"
George Bernard Shaw, Robert F. Kennedy
This is the way the transformation begins.
It begins in me.
It begins now.
It begins with small incremental changes and shifts in attitude
it begins with positive action
failing forward
and suddenly I start looking at the world and my place in it in a new way. I speak differently and dress differently and project a different energy, and the world opens up like a glorious pink azalea bush, eight feet tall and blooming like mad.
photo by Kajo123 from the website flickr.com
Good morning!
An engineer builds a bridge and every bolt and weld has to be exactly right; every measure has to be perfect, or the bridge collapses or fails to take its place. Fantastically detailed blueprints have to be laid out. Impact statements have to be filed, sediment has to be studied, years of effort, months of planning, and a man-made marvel rises in the sky. Park somewhere and take a good look at a bridge, and think of all the skill and knowledge and hard honest work it took to create it. Consider how a few thousand years ago we were living in caves.
It is not so with a dream. Some people are remarkable dreamers and dreams spring whole from them, or they can leap up from bed and pages of creative genius flow out of their pen, intricate and perfect. Most of us though are baby dreamers, new at it and tentative to the trust the power of what we wish for.
Start the dream! Whether you want to go to nursing school or college or learn to play the guitar, take a first step, now, even in the wrong direction. Don't wait for the blueprint to come to you, the environmental impact statement, the permits and the 200-page budget and legislative dream approval. Rough it out, sketch it on a napkin, tell a friend, and take action. Your dream begins the moment you step out in first moment of believing, and the result can touch a thousand souls. Listen to Jim Valvano: never give up, never surrender. Believe in the audacity of action and your fantastic potential for change and new opportunity.
It is not so with a dream. Some people are remarkable dreamers and dreams spring whole from them, or they can leap up from bed and pages of creative genius flow out of their pen, intricate and perfect. Most of us though are baby dreamers, new at it and tentative to the trust the power of what we wish for.
Start the dream! Whether you want to go to nursing school or college or learn to play the guitar, take a first step, now, even in the wrong direction. Don't wait for the blueprint to come to you, the environmental impact statement, the permits and the 200-page budget and legislative dream approval. Rough it out, sketch it on a napkin, tell a friend, and take action. Your dream begins the moment you step out in first moment of believing, and the result can touch a thousand souls. Listen to Jim Valvano: never give up, never surrender. Believe in the audacity of action and your fantastic potential for change and new opportunity.
The Hawthorne Bridge at sunrise, Portland Oregon. Photo by Joe Collver, from flickr.com
Genuine happiness and success start with an attitude of abundance
Make it a daily practice to begin your day with five minutes of thankfulness. You can even do it in your car on the way to work. Do it in your own way, whether it's thoughtful reflection or a prayer or singing out loud, but focus on your rich, amazing, abundant life.
Feeling grumpy or resentful or worried instead of thankful? Change direction! Consider the incredible gifts you have--mind, body, spirit, senses, your family, your friends, your clothes, your car, and the breakfast you enjoyed this morning. By the standards of 99% of the world, Americans are incredibly, amazingly rich. You truly have no idea how richly blessed you are until you start thinking about it. Even the heart that beats within you and the lungs that breathe your air are an intricate and amazing miracle.
Some of my favorite movies are ones that feature a once-defeated character waking up to an absolutely new day: "It's A Wonderful Life," the various versions of Dicken's "Christmas Carol" and "Groundhog Day." How exhilarating it is for George Bailey to wake up and realize his life isn't over, it's just beginning, and that today truly is a brand new day.
"It's a Wonderful Life"
George returns home to everything he ever wanted.
2 comments:
Dad--
We didn't watch too much olympics here. Ethan seems obsessed with hockey and that one that's like shuffleboard, curling is it?? It was funny he wouldn't let us change the channel anytime it was on!
Me
I wonder why he likes those two sports. Hockey he probably likes for the rough and tumble, but curling? Funny he exercises so much control over the family viewing habits. What are his favorite cartoons? For me, give me some classic Daffy Duck. And Barney Rubble, what an actor.
Love,
Dad
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