Parlez-vous Olympics?!
If you didn't remember from Vancouver, or from Beijing, I am a HUGE Olympics fan. I sometimes cry just thinking about it. I love thinking about all those great memories, those Olympic moments that you'll never forget, and the checking the medal count every single day when I get home from school or work. Unfortunately, I don't have channels at home in the summer, so I can't watch much Olympics, especially with NBC's control complex about streaming online (they are seriously losing some potential profits there). But, I watch the highlights and the things that they let us watch.
Of course, we all remember Michael Phelps' prolific Olympics in Beijing. And particularly, the gold medal that was almost silver. And here, I remind you of a wonderful lesson that we learned on that day. For those who don't remember, it was the 4X100 m freestyle relay. Really, it was looking like Michael Phelps' eight gold medals could only die in this race, with a French team that would give the United States a run for their money. It was a race of all races, with the top four teams all almost an entire bodies' length ahead of the world record pace, and at first Australia led. Then, France took the lead. At the start of the last swimmer's start, France was solidly ahead. But then, Jason Lezak pulled a crazy swim, through pure speed and riding the wave. At the end of the race, France and the United States were so close, that the team members had to look up at the board to see who had touched first. And after reviewing the tapes, it was said that France lost because of one fatal flaw. The French swimmer, Bernard, had turned to look at Jason Lezak. He looked.
Oftentimes, we compare ourselves to others too much. I do it. I'm pretty sure that we all do it. And we shouldn't. And that is what Bernard did. He looked. Instead of worrying about how he was doing, he took the moment to check someone else.
A lot of times, we say "don't compare yourself to others," and mean it like a "have a good self-esteem thing." And that is a good application, but just as often, we will think ourselves better than others. Since I seem to kind of make a business of bizarre Old Testament references, we shall continue that theme. In the book of Habakkuk, the Lord has saved Edom. Edom were a "cousin-people" to the Israelites, but had basically sold them out to the Babylonians at the time of Jeremiah. So, Habakkuk, is a little mad that they can do that, and then get forgiven. Habakkuk tells the Lord that if the Edomites were forgiven, they'd just do it again, and that they don't deserve the forgiveness. The very same forgiveness that Israel had just been granted. According to Habakkuk, Israel deserved it. Edom did not. The Lord rebukes Habakkuk, and tells him (paraphrasing), "Don't worry about the Edomites. You just worry about Habakkuk. I'll bother with Edom."
So don't look. And don't worry about the other guy. Even though the other guy getting the gold will limit you to at most the silver.
(And you get virtual brownies for knowing the reference in the title).
Of course, we all remember Michael Phelps' prolific Olympics in Beijing. And particularly, the gold medal that was almost silver. And here, I remind you of a wonderful lesson that we learned on that day. For those who don't remember, it was the 4X100 m freestyle relay. Really, it was looking like Michael Phelps' eight gold medals could only die in this race, with a French team that would give the United States a run for their money. It was a race of all races, with the top four teams all almost an entire bodies' length ahead of the world record pace, and at first Australia led. Then, France took the lead. At the start of the last swimmer's start, France was solidly ahead. But then, Jason Lezak pulled a crazy swim, through pure speed and riding the wave. At the end of the race, France and the United States were so close, that the team members had to look up at the board to see who had touched first. And after reviewing the tapes, it was said that France lost because of one fatal flaw. The French swimmer, Bernard, had turned to look at Jason Lezak. He looked.
Oftentimes, we compare ourselves to others too much. I do it. I'm pretty sure that we all do it. And we shouldn't. And that is what Bernard did. He looked. Instead of worrying about how he was doing, he took the moment to check someone else.
A lot of times, we say "don't compare yourself to others," and mean it like a "have a good self-esteem thing." And that is a good application, but just as often, we will think ourselves better than others. Since I seem to kind of make a business of bizarre Old Testament references, we shall continue that theme. In the book of Habakkuk, the Lord has saved Edom. Edom were a "cousin-people" to the Israelites, but had basically sold them out to the Babylonians at the time of Jeremiah. So, Habakkuk, is a little mad that they can do that, and then get forgiven. Habakkuk tells the Lord that if the Edomites were forgiven, they'd just do it again, and that they don't deserve the forgiveness. The very same forgiveness that Israel had just been granted. According to Habakkuk, Israel deserved it. Edom did not. The Lord rebukes Habakkuk, and tells him (paraphrasing), "Don't worry about the Edomites. You just worry about Habakkuk. I'll bother with Edom."
So don't look. And don't worry about the other guy. Even though the other guy getting the gold will limit you to at most the silver.
(And you get virtual brownies for knowing the reference in the title).
Comments