When the echo of the last cheer in Olympic Park in Sydney, Australia died and the torch turned cold, those of us who watched this spectacular event returned to our normal lives with a sigh. Yet I think the difference between our normal lives and those of men and women who seek the gold is as far apart as the athlete who broke the finish line tape and the last runner who limped across the line. Most of us can separate the stages of our lives into childhood, those in between years, teens, young adult and so on. There isn't a clear delineation, but certainly those stages are marked by expanding our knowledge of the environment, experiencing new and different aspects of life and just living in each of those stages with all the rewards and punishments. In a discussion about the Olympics with some friends, we talked about some sad facts.
Training takes away years and years of their lives.
They sometimes spend 10 out of 12 hours a day training, one friend said. After all those years of training, a first place could be only a few seconds in the golden light of the medal. Many times, there isn't a gold medal or even a place. He pulled a hamstring but continued running. That is amazing.