Is it just me, or does simply watching people compete in the Olympics make you exhausted, even if you aren't doing anything?

I've never been an athletic kid… like… at all. Whenever my mom wanted to play soccer, catch, or even a simple game of basketball when I was little, I always refused. Sports have never interested me. Watching them, playing them, or even being friends with people who play sports wears me out. My old, tired soul has no energy for people and activities that go too fast or involve intense physical activity. Sometimes I get winded from walking up stairs!

Watching these accomplished, amazing athletes fills me with patriotism, awe, and the constant thought of, “why didn't my mom make me play sports as soon as I started walking so I couldn't say no to her? Why didn't she force me to be a champion?”

I'm proud of my nation’s athletes, but they are too in shape for their own good. These people have chiseled abs, strong biceps and calves, while I have the body of the Pillsbury Doughboy with toothpick limbs.

There's something about watching people swim 100 yards in under a minute that fills you with a deep feeling of inadequacy. Sure, I have other talents. I'm a bit of a nerd, I write, and maybe I'm a “good friend” (whatever that's worth), but those skills will hold no ground if there were ever an emergency (or, you know, a zombie apocalypse). While I'm running and flailing miserably around with no chance of survival, Usain Bolt is leading a brigade of other athletes to victory, and everyone else is left in the dust.

Maybe I shouldn't be so hard on myself. After all, I wasn't bred from birth to compete, nor did I grow up on a healthy, protein rich diet (thanks, McDonald’s Happy Meals!), and I think I'm doing pretty well for someone in my situation. Not everyone is meant to be a champion, but what we can take from athletes is their spirit of sportsmanship, camaraderie, and the lesson that you can always be better tomorrow than you were today. So instead of sitting around all day doing nothing but funneling cookies into our mouths, maybe we can actually do something with our lives... or just keep watching people do something with theirs.