Olympic fever this week

As the whole world knows (unless you have cooped yourself in a cave or some remote place on earth), we are now the first week of the Beijing 2008 Olympics.  I rarely watch sports on TV except for the occasional equestrian events that are telecast on my sports cable channels.  However I find myself caught in the current Olympic fever as I plonked myself in front of the TV each evening since the weekend to watch the various sports on TV. 

Thanks to my cable TV subscription, I have up to 6 special Olympics channels to choose from, plus 2 more from my normal local TV network.  I get so engrossed in the Olympics fever that I have not been thinking much about my toy collecting hobby all week.  So far I have watched gymnastics (my favourite), equestrian (my second favourite), archery, volleyball, weightlifting, judo, swimming, badminton, synchronized diving, basketball, handball and cycling. 

There are many more sports to come.  Suddenly I find myself being ‘educated’ in many different sports in just 1 week!  Previously, I didn’t even care how the scoring system works for basketball and archery but now I know.  Even archery can be exciting to watch when the competing sides match each other’s scores so closely with every shot of their arrows.  Eventually, the gold medal was won by a mere 2 points difference,  what a competition!

The Olympics will definitely be a distraction for me till it ends.  I really enjoy observing the perseverance of the athletes and the clenching of their fists in victory whenever they score or win.  For those didn’t win, it is indeed sad to see them in tears or almost in tears, having come so near and yet so far to the finals.  In life, we also score or lose points like those athletes.  It’s not just about the medals and glory, it’s also about the valuable and priceless experience gained during the competitions.

The real Olympic gold medal is but another form of a physical goal in life.  We all have our own definitions of gold medals in our lives.  To achieve those personal ‘Olympic gold medals’ of ours, we need to believe in ourselves and equip ourselves with a winner’s mindset.  That means to stop complaining, stop blaming others and stop giving excuses about everything. 

Go plan your strategies and take appropriate actions to reach for your own ‘Olympic gold medals’.  If you are ‘hungry’ enough for your gold medal, then you must do whatever it takes to succeed.  Change and adjust your strategies along the way when necessary, and stay away from people who ’pull you down’ with their disempowering words and thinking.  Mix with like-minded winners and I don’t see why you can’t even reach the finals in contention for the ’medals’!