This will be my last Olympics post for awhile. It’s been a good time, albeit rigorous on my body and consciousness and focus. If there’s one thing I’ve learned this time it’s that athletics is one of the most honorable lifestyles, and for me a driving force in my progress.
For starters, I want this to be the last time I watch the Olympics on TV. The coverage is great, the media spin is great, but I imagine nothing compares to being present among fellow citizens of the world.
I’d like the Olympics to serve as my non-official pacesetter. This means setting the principles for:
- Being athletic. As Apolo Anton Ono said, “At the end of the day, did you do your absolute your very best?”
- Striving for the best: Bode Miller: Athletics is my form of self-expression, and the Olympics is the opportunity to do it at the highest level.
- Strength of spirit, “The Gift”: Joannie Rochette skating her ultimate best under the most heart-wrenching of circumstances.
And of course, getting my life aligned so I can bring my family to the 2012 Summer Games in London. Right now it sounds like an impossible dream, but it’s not impossible. It can be done.
This means I have to be prepared to buy event tickets next year and travel arrangements by early 2012. The Olympics give me something to strive for.