Were you watching last night when Michael Phelps broke the record for the most career Olympic gold medals? I was. It was a little after 10pm. When he finished, he didn't look excited. He looked disappointed. The commentators thought it was because he had set a goal for himself to be faster than he actually was. Coming in first place wasn't enough for him. He doesn't just try to beat his competition. He tries to beat himself.
It kind of got me thinking about myself. Do I strive to be my very best at what I do? When I'm at work, do I try to get new clients to come into the bank to open new accounts like my job depends on it? No. In school, do I give my all in studying and reading and studying some more, so that, someday, I might graduate summa cum laude? No, I don't. Is there anything I've found in my life that I try to be the best I can possibly be?
See, Phelps has devoted himself to swimming. It's something he loves to do. It's something he's passionate about. What am I passionate about? Maybe this is a part of that stuff that I need to work on. I'm not married and have no children, so I obviously should not strive to be the best husband or father around. There's gotta be something else, right? I could try to be the best blogger in the world, but then only ten people would know about it.
Maybe it's not too late for me to find an Olympic sport that I could be great at. Maybe if we petition to have Skee Ball as an Olympic sport I could have a shot. But at this point, I think I'm too old and out of shape to become the next track star. I'd start training, then I'd strain to hear the starting signal over the popping and cracking in my knees.
Badminton is an official Olympic sport. If only I'd paid more attention on how to play when I was hanging out at my cousin's house. Mostly we would just slam the birdie over the net as hard as would could at each other. If Ultimate Frisbee were acceptable, I think I could manage to get on a team. Though, I haven't played that since college, I could be a little rusty.
In real Olympic news, check out the bottom of the page. I've still got the updated Olympic medal count. Last time I looked, as of this morning, America was in the lead in the overall medal count. China still has more gold though. I guess they're entitled, since they're hosting and all.
Just wait for the track and field events. We'll get the rest of the world in running. We always do. That's where all that pretty gold will come home to our waving grains and shining seas...right?
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