Coaches on the Edge are Looking for Heroes (of Olympic Proportions).
Laurie: I hope I’m not going to get my citizenship revoked. This may even be considered an international 
insult but I am going to risk it anyway. I am not watching the Olympics this year. Okay, pick yourself up off the floor and listen to my reasoning. I was pretty sure that I didn’t want to see more snow after the repeated blizzards that have hit the East Coast recently. And watching people ski down a hill is not my idea of big thrills. So I was already wavering on my patriotic duty. My first clue was when I kept nodding off during the Opening Ceremonies. And then the death of luger Nodar Kumaritashvili put me right over the edge.
elizabeth: I think your status of being a nearly brilliant woman might be revoked first for watching “America’s Next Top Model” before they flog you for boycotting the Olympics. Or at least N.O.W. might not renew your membership. I called ahead to let them know about your little secret obsession.
I am with you 100% about the opening ceremonies. They made it just boring enough that I feel asleep and missed all the good stuff. And of course, the people in my TV were not willing to share it after the fact. We’ll give you 3-5 seconds of what you missed. No more. So I don’t know really what I missed. Except for those huge phallic symbols at the end that must have forgotten to take their Olympic-sized Viagra. I think the world felt sorry for poor Wayne Gretzky who looked like he was wishing he was any place but there.
Laurie: How much does the average American Joe or Josephina need to meet their “entertainment” requirements? Grab a bucket of fried chicken, pop open a few beers, and settle into the couch to watch athletes that have circumvented their natural childhoods so they can practice ridiculous stunts that risk their lives. Are you amused yet? Well, if you are, then we’ll just have to try harder next year. Niney-five miles an hour (an illegal speed limit in any state of the Union) hurtling down an ice scoop was doable this year? Well next year we’ll be into the 100’s. And if you manage to survive this and come in first without ripping off a limb, we will give you a shiny medal on a big fat ribbon. Oh yeah, and if you happen to die, we will blame it on your athletic inadequacies.
elizabeth: Watching someone fly down a mountain and staying in control can be awe inspiring. Hey, I am for anything that will get people off their butts and taking a chance or trying something new. For the ones who just eat and watch and eat some more, well the grim reaper will be knocking on their door soon enough.
Laurie: Yes, I love the fact that countries come together from all over the world and for two weeks or so political, social and economic differences are forgotten. But I question our definition of “hero.” You skated around a frozen pond really fast. Hero? I would much rather see that medal go to one of the doctors who flew down to Haiti on his/her own dime to help out earthquake victims. Or how about a teacher who made an entire class of children realize that bullying was neither an acceptable nor admirable action? Granted, neither can probably slam dunk a basketball into a suspended net while wearing fancy sneakers, but in the scheme of real life, who cares?
elizabeth: Israel and Iran stood nearly together at the opening and that gets one to think about how can we take two weeks and turn that into two months, two years and so on. Maybe each time the Olympics show up and hold the world’s attention, well, maybe some young kid who took up skiing because of his hero just might come up with a plan to bring the world’s people together. Because he stared down a mountain and felt invincible and believed that anything was possible.
© 2010, Coaches on the Edge ™
If you would like to learn more about Laurie, please go to her site: Empowered Life Journeys.
Stop by at elizabeth’s site at: Branching Out Life Coaching
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