The Opening Ceremony of the Olympics was Friday evening. I was struck at how together the world appeared during the ceremony. Not only were nations around the world represented by their athletes, but there was also a group of refugee athletes, displaced from their homes.
The Olympics, as we know them today, can trace their roots back to the Olympic Games held in ancient Greek. Many of the traditions we continue today, such as the crowns for the winners began with the Greeks. Today, the Olympics feature athletes from around the world competing in summer and winter sports during their respective seasons. Every two years, the world comes together to celebrate the best athletes from their nation, competing to be the best.
At the root of it, the Olympics are sporting competitions, but to the world they mean so much more. Then only times that they Olympics have not been held since their start as world games were in 1916, 1940 and 1944. These were all during times of World Wars. While it may sometimes seems as though we are amidst another world war when you watch the news, it is small reminders like the Olympics that we are not in fact amidst a world war.
The images from the opening ceremonies are ones I wish we saw more often on TV. When our children see news stations, this is the news they should see. They should see the world come together, to compete in sporting events as it has been done since thousands of years ago. When children are able to see how the world can come together for a common cause, they see that we are not so different after all. They see that deep down, our passions are all the same. They see that we are all just people.
In a world when far too often children see images of violence in the world, I want them to see something else. As the games progress, I hope to see more of these moments of the world coming together. I hope I see us as people, come together to celebrate the successes of another.
This is the world that we should leave our children. A world in which they have been taught to celebrate the success of another.
