In a recent conversation with a friend, we were discussing the Winter Olympics currently happening in South Korea. I made the point that the Olympics are a beautiful thing, for many reasons, while my friend made the point that it's largely a bunch of sports that nobody cares about, so there's no reason in viewing them. While his point has some validity to it, there also wasn't much beyond that point to support his argument. Being the opinionated person I am, decided to write a bit on why the Olympics truly are a great thing.

First off, the Olympics are one of the very few (maybe one of the only) that have the ability to bring literally the entire world together. Yes, this even means the Democratic Peoples Republic of Korea, more commonly known to us as North Korea, is willing to make an appearance, and show some sort of unity with the rest of the world. I'll admit, I laughed pretty hard at the video of the cheer squad they brought, but hey, the fact that there participating and seemingly enjoying these games is pretty neat.

Secondly, the Olympics are undoubtedly the largest friendly competition on earth. With everything going on in the world surrounding us, it's amazingly refreshing to see everyone drop their differences and political agendas for two weeksIt's nice to come together, sharing the common goal to perform at their best for themselves, and their country. Furthermore, it's cool to see the bond many of the athletes have with one another, and the genuine excitement they are able to seek out in each other successes. In other words, there's no competition that can make people drop arms, and come together quite like the Olympics.

Finally, the Olympics has provided us with countless breathtaking, inspiring and truly memorable performances that we won't forget. For example, we all know about "The Miracle n Ice" aka the USA beats communist Russia in hockey for the gold medal, which was the true ending to the Cold War, in case you didn't know. Also just this past week, we saw perhaps an equally great finish as American snowboarding legend Shaun White was down to his final run and needed to score above a 95.25 to reclaim his spot on top of the podium in the halfpipe. Not only did he get the run he needed, scoring a 97.75, but he won the competition just four months after being in the intensive care unit of a New Zealand hospital following a freak accident while training.

All in all, the Olympics have provided us all a way to come together, and watch in awe as we cheer on our countrymen who never fail to amaze us.