Olympics Inspiration: Flying Higher…
“You have to learn the rules of the game. And then you have to play better than anyone else.” Albert Einstein
Olympics Inspiration: Flying Higher…
The 2012 Summer Olympics in London started on a high note. I knew we would be in for an exhilarating ride when the Queen, with my favorite James Bond in tow, jumped out of a helicopter into the Olympic stadium. wink. wink! It was hysterical and Her Majesty’s serene indifference when the camera panned left to show her already in her seat was priceless… But I digress. The Olympics showcased the best athletes competing for a finite number of medals, and offering the rest of us tons of inspirational teachings and lessons about life, success, sportsmanship, failure, gumption, courage, grace, marketing chops, social media savvy and ….. fill in the blank.
Highlights: Opening Ceremony. Daniel Craig as James Bond and Her Majesty leaping out of a helicopter. Manteo Mitchell running the 4×400 relay preliminaries on a broken leg.
“If you want to reach a goal, you must ‘see the reaching’ in your own mind before you actually arrive at your goal.” Zig Ziglar
Olympics Inspiration: Flying Higher… Gabby Douglas (credit Josh Haner/The New York Times)
Olympics Inspiration: Flying Higher…Michael Phelps, Ryan Lochte, Laszlo Cseh
I don’t know about you, but the Olympics made me re-evaluate my personal goals and reach higher for something more. It put a sprint in my step in the gym and on my aqueduct walks, and my patience quotient increased a tad more. When things got a bit complicated in my efforts to move forward with my plans, I harked back to Gabby Douglas‘ favorite line “I was just like, Believe, don’t fear, believe.” Remembering Gabby’s individual all-around event gold win or Michael Phelp’s final race for Gold gave me courage; suddenly, I could see myself flying just as high or higher.
Gabby’s grace under pressure, her ready smile, easy going and prayerful spirit sold me on her. She worked hard for her win and inspired many little girls of color who might one day take up that sport. She inspired me too and even her haters soon moved on. Shoot, they all inspired me; Pistorius, Bolt, Phelps, Lolo, Missy, Ryan, Allyson, Sanya, all the teams.
Highlights: Gabby Douglas’ Individual and the Fierce Five/Team Gold wins. Michael Phelps final swim adding to a total of 22 medals, 18 of them gold. Oscar Pistorius inspiring effort and prosthetics. Lolo Jones’ sincere response to the painful article about her marketing hype.
“The greater danger for most of us lies not in setting our aim too high and falling short; but in setting our aim too low, and achieving our mark.” Michelangelo
Olympics Inspiration: Flying Higher… Usain Bolt
Olympics Inspiration: Flying Higher… Oscar Pistorius
Yes, there was plenty to make us believe at these Olympics: If I needed a quick lift, I could login to Twitter check out the trending topics, hashtags and tweets, and then head to NBC or YouTube for the full video. I hate surprises so even though there were several world record breaking surprises from the athletes, this Olympics was a dream for me. Why? In the USA, we got the results first, then videos next… Snap! I didn’t have to sweat through the Women’s 100 meter race to see Shelly-Ann win or the Women’s 4 x 100m Relay Final to see Carmelita Jeter bring home Gold and a 40.82 sec world record. I knew it before watching.
Ditto all those mind-blowing Usain Bolt races which I watched multiple times on auto rewind. Having constant, even immediate access through Twitter, YouTube uploads and NBC to events, results, pictures, and even the occasional cat fight or “Bolting” group shots, made us feel fully plugged in wherever we were.
Highlights: Usain Bolt’s legendary wins and trademark pose. Jessica Ennis winning the heptathlon and Mo Farah the 10,000 meters for GB. Missy Franklin going for Gold. Kirani James first gold for Grenada. Carmelita and the team of US Women’s 4 x 100m Relay Final. More below!
“Winners compare their achievements with their goals, while losers compare their achievements with those of other people” Nido Qubein
Olympics Inspiration: Flying Higher…
Has social media changed how you view the Olympics? Definitely! Access to social media sites, real time responses and reactions to everything going on in London, made it truly interactive. I remember early in the games when #EpicFail was trending, it put NBC on notice. The same thing happened with athletes who were not mindful of their tweets… Every important moment of the games; the front end, back end, and the back story was readily available for all to see, read and respond. With 150 million tweets going out, we couldn’t miss a thing. A criticism might be that it soon became TMI (Too Much Information) but I’m not complaining.
Furthermore, because we felt so close to the action and athletes, we were more empathetic and supportive of the competition. Overall, it was an amazing time… a superlative event. As a huge Track and Field fan, I got to witness many T&F memorable moments. Allyson, Sanya, Sally, and many other elite runners gave their best and made it look easy. Of course, the ultimate goal is to take the energy and excitement of the Olympics and translate it into positive achievements in our own lives… We can still aim at flying higher. “It is not the mountain we conquer but ourselves.” Edmund Hillary
Highlights: Claressa Shields, the 17-year-old middleweight win boxing Gold. Closing Ceremony. The Spice Girls, Who, and the rest of that razzle dazzle wrap up.
Have a spectacular day! You are already a blessing to others. 🙂 What are your thoughts? Did you watch the Olympics? Do you have an exercise tip to share? What impact has the games had on your life? What insights could you offer others? Do share! Thank you. 😉
*Please bear with me as I catch up on your blogs and commenting… I’m back on track with reading and responding to your blogs; albeit at a slow pace. Thank you all for your patience! 🙂
This post was inspired by a prompt from a WP Weekly Writing Challenge: Mind the Gap: Has social media changed how you view the Olympics?
Positive Motivation Tip: Learn the discipline of Olympic success then apply it to your life.
PHOTO CREDITS/ATTRIBUTIONS: All Photos: Gold medal, Michael & swim mates, Oscar Pistorius, Usain Bolt, New Olympic logo,London banner, via Wikipedia, Flickr or from Facebook/my personal collection.
Until Next Time…
Ask. Believe. Receive. ©
Elizabeth Obih-Frank
Mirth and Motivation
Positive Kismet
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AWESOME post . Am sharing, thank you so much
TY for your feedback. appreciated! 🙂
Now I feel terrible because I didn’t watch one bit of the Olympics – I will now do so via your beautiful blog!
I watched mostly T&F. I caught some gymnastics, swimming and a few other key events but not the entire games at all… Its’ all on the NBC site which makes it easy to catch up. 😉
What an inspirational post! Love all the quotes! You make me want to get out there! Thanks Elizabeth! I really need this one & will bookmark it for motivation! 💗💗
TY Karen! You inspire me with your dedication to Tootles needs and I am awed by it.
Gabby and Oscar, especially, have my spirit still flying very high by their marvelous examples! Thanks for highlighting this again for us.
TY for stopping in too. 🙂
Olympic moved us and gave us energy. I hope that next next Olympic will come Tokyo.
I hope so too… They missed the last vote but the next one will be great for Japan. TY! 😉
I felt inspired to move my body and get exercizing again. The Olympics were exciting and heartstopping. I enjoyed seeing all the athletes you mentioned and others win. Wish it would continue as a way to bring people together. Thanks for the motivating piece.
B
I know… It was such an uplifting and exciting time. I just couldn’t understand all the griping by people who were focused on something other than sportsmanship. To each his own I suppose. TY! 🙂
For the first time ever I missed 99% of the olympics. Life has a way of getting in the way sometimes. I read everything I could get my hands on tho and enjoyed it vicariously.
Great post Elizabeth!
b
TY barb! I missed much of it on purpose because I knew I could go back and watch on NBC. Then there was Twitter and the rest, so I was exposed to plenty organically. 🙂
Wow, reading through your comments I am sad to see that I am not the only one who didn’t watch any of the Olympics this time. Normally you can’t get me away from the television but now I rarely turn on the TV at all.
Not sure if it is a good thing or that I am completely distracted? Thanks for the post. M
TY Miriam! It was actually easier to get access to info on the Olympics, even without TV, because it was available through many channels/sources. I selected what I wanted to watch and then heard or read about the rest from many other info outlets. TY! 🙂
Gabby Douglas was great!
Sh sure was in my book. TY! 🙂
I found it tremendously inspiring. I was hooked from day one as I noted in my blog (I also posted about our Jamaican athletes, but I know you are still catching up!!) Pistorius, Phelps et al were all inspiring in different ways, and made me see life differently. Many of them had overcome such great odds, just to be there and compete, so it wasn’t only the medal-winners!
Sure thing on the struggle. I had to shake my head in dismay when I heard that many athletes have no govt funding or sponsor support and struggle to make it. They all should be applauded. Kirani James touched my heart too. 😉
Great to read about 2012 from your point of view! Queenie’s sketch was so funny!
I’m sorry that the Olympics are over! It was a great 2 weeks of peace and camaraderie. My favorites: Queen and James Bond and Oscar Pistorius.
I’m with you on those thoughts too. 🙂
Hey I just saw that you liked my blog, thanks a lot! I was reading your about me and found we had something else in common -i grew up in a few different continents too. Can i ask which ones you spent time in? thanks a lot, again, for checking out my posts, i hope im able to post some more interesting stuff 🙂
Thanks for checking in! Which continents did you grow up in? I grew up in Europe, Africa and North America. For many years, I felt like an international nomad, but I’m noticing that as the years tick by, I am feeling more centered in accepting that home is where the heart is… that can change too I bet. 🙂
Oh just like me! I was in islands off the coast africa and spent time with senegalese people (who hated speaking French haha), then in europe I’ve been living in Spain for about 7 years or a little more, and seeing other countries, and in North America I grew up in CA for a long time. (I was also in South America until I was about seven.) I totally agree with you, nomad is the word haha. And yeah, it helps you center yourself a lot, and value specific things. I also think, even though you might feel like you belong to no country, at the same time it’s easier to choose where you’d like to settle down. If you WANT to settle down… Well, it’s nice to “meet you” haha =)
It’s a delight to meet you too! 🙂
Oscar Pistorius – what an inspiration to us all.
So true… Judith could you leave a link to your blog so I can visit? TY! 🙂
Never watched the Olympics sa we were in mourning though Ghana sent a contingent.
So sad about your revered leader… Peace and love to all of you in my sister country.
I love your positive tip for today: Learn the discipline…apply it to your life. 🙂 Right on!
TY miha! I’m working on it for me too… 😉
You said it of Gabby but it is true of all of the athletes – they worked hard. Just getting there was a massive achievement.
True… They all deserve kudos. 🙂
See you in 2016 Rio Janeiro 😀
Amen … by the grace of God! TY! 🙂