Postcards from the Funny Farm

If you’ve been watching the olympics as I have lately, I know you’ve added respect for the athletes.  Yesterday I saw the diving and gymnastics and it was both entertaining and inspiring.  There are 5 key take-aways I get from the Olympics that make me better for watching! Even the kids are putting away their playstation 3 games and tuning in.

1. They are practiced.  The reason they step up to the diving board with confidence is because of this.  Things I can practice?  Lesson delivery, Spanish conversation … the list goes on.
2. They are genuinely excited to be there.  I wish more people in the world had that “arrival” sense of being where they are supposed to be.  I need to remember the first time I blogged and how I would have loved to know the things I know how.  In addition, my first day of teaching back in 1997.
3. They accept coaching.  The gymnastic coaches were right there with them and they seemed to work in perfect harmony.  Do you view coaching as something for the weak?  If so, work on that attitude.
4. They wish each other well before and after the game.  We all know this, but do we practice good sportsmanship?
5. -and finally- They seem themselves as role models from “afar.”  Any famous athlete has a public relations agent.  Olympians know kids are watching them and so they make decisions carefully about the image they portray.  We may not be olympians but many people are watching us in our “circle.”