So Emotional: The Olympics Revisited
by Leslie Karen Lobell, M.A.

It was about ten days into the Olympics in Sydney, Australia. I was sitting with some women, sharing coffee and conversation. One of the women said that, every night, she and her husband would sit watching the Olympics in the evening and she would cry. "I get so emotional!" she exclaimed. "Me, too!" I said. She seemed relieved. While she may have been concerned that her spouse deemed her display of tears either silly or slightly out of the ordinary, I understood it, totally. I go to movies: I cry when they are sad, and I cry when they are happy. I think I cry more often from joy than from sadness. Sometimes, I just feel so moved by something, that I get tears in my eyes. It is as though the truth or the beauty of something just "zings" right straight through to my heart. I feel chills through my entire being, and the tears come. I feel this way a lot when I watch the Olympics.
 
The funny thing is, I am not really much of a sports fan. I can easily go for years without watching a sport on television. I try not to watch that much television, in general, anyway. The Olympics, however, seem to be the rare exception to my rule. As the Olympics approach, I often think to myself, "Well, maybe I'll just watch some of the gymnastics." Suddenly, though, I find myself getting drawn into watching more and more events. I am touched by the life stories of the young men and women in the different competitions: the triumphs, trials, and tribulations they faced in getting to this moment in which they have the chance to compete in their chosen specialty before the eyes of all the world. Suddenly, I find myself glued to the television, with tears in my eyes, running for more Kleenex at the commercial breaks.
 
Whitney Houston sang, "I get so emotional, Baby. Ain't it shocking what love can do?" Whitney got so emotional about love. Here I am getting so emotional about the Olympics... and, apparently, I am not the only one. Why? I believe it has something to do with the power of hopes and dreams. It is so incredible to watch young men and women who know exactly what it is that they want, and who go for it. These athletes go after their dream of Olympic Gold with courage and determination. They give it their all. Some of them come as close to perfection in physical conditioning and mental focus as one can get. Olympic athletes demonstrate not only sheer strength, but skill and artistry, as well. And then there is faith: be it faith in God, faith in one's own abilities, and/or faith in the power of believing in one's own dreams, faith keeps a winner going through all the competitions, preliminaries, trials... everything, all the way to the winners podium. It is this pursuit of hopes and dreams -- with courage, determination, and faith -- that thrills me and brings the tears to my eyes as I watch the Olympics.
 
What is so compelling about the Olympic Games? Why do some of us get so emotional? Why does my heart sink when a gymnast falls off the bars or the beam, and soar when a diver nails a dive and bullets straight into the pool without a splash? I think, for us, as spectators, we get to live the dream vicariously. The human spirit loves to see the achievement of dreams. We want to see others achieve their dreams, so we can continue to believe in the possibility of achieving our own. Ultimately, I believe that THAT is what we all truly want: to achieve our own dreams.
 
A very wise teacher named Joseph Campbell was famous for saying, "Follow your bliss!" It sounds so simple and reasonable. However, so many of us are afraid to do this. We fear that we will fail, that we will not be able to make a living, or any of a host of other fears. The pursuit of one's dreams can be scary and challenging. Like the Olympic athlete, you must have the courage, determination, and faith to pursue your dreams and achieve them. Each one of us must make the choice. We can choose to be "Olympic" in our own lives; we can choose to be spectators of life. For some, like the coaches and trainers at the Olympics, fulfillment comes in the form of encouraging and helping others to reach their full potential and achieve their dreams. To me, the worst "failure" I could imagine would be to find myself on my deathbed thinking, "Maybe I could have done it... but I never really tried." So in the wake of being so emotional during the Olympics, I urge each and every one of us to find that courage, determination, and faith... Dare to follow your bliss... Put your heart and soul into achieving your dreams. The very act of trying, with all your being, will make you a winner on par with any Olympic athlete.
 
Copyright ©2000 All rights reserved. Leslie Lobell
 

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