True Olympic Spirit.

One of my favorite books, Blubberland, written by Australian author Elizabeth Farrelly states in chapter 5, "Fat and the Family Home,":

"We worship thin but, increasingly, do fat. Indeed, the more desperately we crave thinness, the more elusively it seems to float from our grasp and the fatter our bodies, our culture and our lives become. Thin has scarcity status."

Now that the Vancouver Olympics are upon us, I see this hypocrisy playing out before my very eyes--the world's elite competing in the newest, most grandiose sports venues on the planet--for 2 weeks. Then what?  The spirit of the Olympics has little to do with the facilities and everything to do with leveraging competitive spirit into a neutral medium for nations of all shapes, sizes and beliefs to do friendly battle on a level playing field.

Each Olympics the media hones in on a few "feel-good" stories and have you ever noticed that these stories always revolve around athletes from the poorest countries?  We feel uplifted and so proud of these people but never consider how ridiculous the polarity we are seeing really is...I'm not suggesting that we live in poverty. I'm suggesting that we consider the notion that to compete on the world's largest stage does not require the best facilities, the best coaches or even the most talent.

In fact, if what Farrelly writes is true, we might all be able to live perpetual feel-good stories if we reconsider how much is really enough.  Just because your stomach is growling doesn't mean you need to eat.  Just because you have millions of dollars doesn't mean you need a 10,000 square foot home.  And conversely, just because you hardly have a nickel to your name doesn't mean you can't have fulfillment.

Life, contrary to popular American thought, is not about the acquisition of possessions. Life should be about the acquisition of friendships, experiences and learning to live with people from countries of all sizes, shapes and belief systems.  If we can develop this attitude, we should all be considered Olympians.



--Schmidty