Everybody and their mother (quite literally, it's a family activity) has been watching the Olympics day in and day out. The Olympic Games are such a fun way to bring families, and our country, together for some good ol' fashion spectating. If you're anything like me, something along these lines have left your mouth during this past week:
"He/She is around my age; he/she is at the Olympics, and I'm sitting on my couch."
This base comment was probably prefaced by some sort of self-loathing introduction, such as:
"I am trash."
"I hate myself."
"What am I doing with my life?"
Trust me, I'm there with you. Heck, Katie Ledecky is a little less than a year younger than me. I really do feel you. I spent a few years in middle school giving swim team a solid attempt, and failed pretty miserably. So yeah, Katie definitely has this whole swimming thing on me, but that's okay. This Olympic season, there's something I want all of you to keep in mind, whilst watching the games...
You are doing the best you can, and that's good enough.
As humans we have two very simple bad habits, that happen to be polar opposites. We either become narcissistic and prideful, or sell ourselves shorter than the tiniest of Snow White's seven dwarves. More often than not, we are guilty of the latter. Obviously, to a degree, it is necessary to push us in the right direction--towards achieving whatever it is we feel we aren't good enough at; to be humble is not a crime. However, in my opinion, to discount yourself very well should be.
We're all working towards something: fame, a degree, happiness, heck, even winning an Olympic gold medal. My point here is that just because your goal isn't an international title accompanied by a healthy sum of cash, doesn't mean that what you're currently working towards is not important. Life is just a matter of setting and achieving goals, one after the other, no matter what they may be.
The competitors residing in the Olympic Village down in Rio this month did not just wake up a few weeks ago and decide that their goal was going to be to become an Olympian. No, no, no. Many of them set that long-term goal many years ago, and have been working towards it, completing hundreds of short-term goals, for as long as they can remember. However, we do need to keep in mind that, yes, these Olympians are probably better* than most of us. They eat exactly what they're supposed to eat, work at their sport day in and day out, and live to make it to the games. And that's all fantastic for them, that's why they're down in Rio representing countries around the world. But what they're doing down there in the Olympic stadium, pool, gymnastics mat, basketball court, etc. does not devalue all of the goals that we are setting and reaching each and every day.
No one success is more significant than another.
If successes could surpass each other then there would be no point in achieving them. Every step you take towards reaching a personal goal is amazing, valuable, and admirable, because you're achieving what is important to you. Who's to say that perfecting your grilled cheese flipping toss isn't worth a gold medal? OK, well the Olympic committee would probably protest, but who really cares. The point is that you weren't training to swim freestyle for 800 meters in record-breaking time; you were working at flipping that grilled cheese to crisp, buttery perfection. You did it, because you set your mind to it, and that is a success in my book.
So, stop looking at these Olympians as if they're Greek gods (pun intended based on the origin of the Olympics) and start realizing that they're people, just like you and me, who have worked really hard to get where they are. Believe me, they are not in the business of trying to make you feel bad about yourself, quite frankly it's the opposite. These athletes have worked their tails off to reach their own goals, and to inspire you to reach your own--one step at a time.
*Better is such a subjective word that I really do not like the connotations of, and you should too. Despite what many believe, life is not a competition to find who is "better," we're all just trying to find contentment at our own pace. Don't forget that.
