Turn on your TV. Open your phone. Turn up the radio. The world is dark and full of terrors that we are forced to live and relive any time we turn on the news.
People killing each other because of the color of their skin, a badge they yield or the accent carried by their voice. We regularly see images of citizens being forced out of their beds and out of their own countries, innocent people being blown to pieces over radicals making a claim of which god is the "right one." Prejudices swarm our opinions of others when we are forced to recall the buzzwords usually accompanied by the names of the foreign nations we watch from our screens. We are trained to cringe and cross our arms when we hear the names of our national political enemies and adopt a sense of intrinsic distaste for them as a whole instead of segmenting out the perpetrators of violence and crime.
But what happens when that melts away from the forefront of the world lens, if only for a couple of weeks, and the world takes on a new set of buzzwords? Those that revolve around camaraderie, perseverance, strength and competition in the purest sense of the word?
Nations stand shoulder to shoulder with each other regardless of history, war or preconceptions. They stand before a flaming torch as individuals with a common goal; to push the limits of the human body and to compare abilities with the best from around the globe. People just like you and me stand toe to toe, not to prove which culture is richest, what political system is the most effective or what war tactics are the most deadly. They stand in friendly, yet, fierce competition simply of who can prove they are the best athlete in the world.
If the Olympic Games stand for any reminder, then it is that we are all the same in our human experience regardless of politics and the wars our countries wage. The Olympics prove that we, as citizens of the Earth, still do have the capacity to join together peacefully. We still have the ability to gather under one roof and work for a common goal. We can be fierce and we can be unique, but we can stand on common ground and fight for the same thing. If that mindset were to be harnessed, then the world could begin to be a much more pleasant place.
