聽 聽 聽 聽 聽 聽 聽 聽 To quote a meme I saw on Facebook, 鈥淚 didn鈥檛 see any participation ribbons handed out at the Olympics.鈥�
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 I did see countless dreams reached and watched as others failed to achieve what they had set out to do. People won and people lost; but, there was more to it than that. Whether earning a medal or simply competing on that world stage of the Olympics I also saw a lot of effort and a lot of sportsmanship filter through. It was about more than just the gold medal: two athletes were even awarded the International Fair Play Committee Award during the Olympics for helping each other up after a fall in a race and ensuring they both crossed the finish line, turning back to help the other person up.
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 I was re-reading a book by someone who used to coach volleyball at a university in the States. I read the book each year before the season starts and I always find myself placing different emphasis on different things she says.
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 This time as I read the book three thoughts of the author, Teri Clemens, resonated with me. The first involved the following quote: 鈥淐ompetition is healthy 鈥� in all facets of life. And it will happen whether we like it or not. So you better get used to it. Competing includes constantly being pushed down and finding ways to get back up鈥︹��
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 I don鈥檛 have children, but I do coach and I don鈥檛 feel a participation medal sends the right message. There is success and failure in life, just showing up doesn鈥檛 cut it. Do I want the girls I coach to feel good about themselves regardless of wins and losses? Absolutely! But I鈥檝e come to define a winner in a different way than what colour of medal they received.
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 Teri Clemens writes: 鈥淚 define a winner by her work ethic, rather than by her awards. Measure the drive of your passion, not the result. What鈥檚 important is the climb, it鈥檚 not necessarily who wins the last game of the season鈥� The actual winning is the process of competing at your best鈥� I want my team鈥檚 name on top. But there鈥檚 much more to it than that鈥� Winners give strong effort, day in and day out鈥︹��
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 And I completely agree with her. Emphasis should be put on effort. Participation means you just showed up, but a 鈥�100 percent effort award鈥� would mean you not only showed up, but you did your very best and did it with class. This is where most Olympic athletes are categorized as there鈥檚 only a gold, silver, and bronze handed out; but, even the person who finished dead last can walk away with their head held high knowing they did their best.
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 The third idea that really resonated with me this time through was that: 鈥淲e choose to make life fair or unfair. It doesn鈥檛 just happen. It鈥檚 not realistic to think it should always be fair. Don鈥檛 expect life to be perfect鈥� when I was little, my brother and I often would share an ice cream sandwich. If he broke it in two and handed me the smaller piece [it was unfair]. If I got to pick first, I wasn鈥檛 complaining. Now it was fair. Sometimes life seems very unfair.鈥�
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 Fair comes at what cost? In Clemens鈥� example it was unfair to her when her brother handed her the smaller piece, but if she got to pick first suddenly it was fair that she got the bigger piece. I think this is the most basic way of putting something: fair is in the eye of the beholder.
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 The human brain is a powerful thing, so next time you see something as unfair, force yourself to look at it a different way.
