This post was originally featured on youthmin.org.
I don’t know how it is in your house, but ours is completely captivated by the XXX Summer Olympics. Every night our entire family gathers around our tv and watches the dramatic story through the lens of NBC. And without exception every night has been some of the best tv as we watch olympic athletes compete for Gold, for world records, and for personal triumph.
It is humbling and awe-inspiring to watch humans, with the exact same DNA make up as me make their bodies do things that seem beyond capability.
I can barely do 10 sit-ups, and the male gymnasts are mesmerizing in their seemingly effortless flips and spins across the floor and on the pommel horse. Or the track and field stars racing at speeds I can barely achieve on a bike going down hill as fast as I can.
Years and years of training, practicing, testing has whittled the field of amateur enthusiasts to those with the combination of God-given abilities and incredible work ethic. And the result is a once in a lifetime shot for a Gold Medal, and if you have a good enough story and are beautiful enough, you also earn some air time on NBC.
But then it is all over. For they gymnast who has given her entire life to a sport, every day, every holiday, every meal, every friendship has all submitted to the goal of becoming an Olympic Gold Medalist. And of the thousands and thousands of people seeking this goal, one woman, Gabby Douglas pulled it off. For the thousands the dream is over, and for Gabby her dream is fulfilled, but her dream is now just as much over as the others. And the question now remains, now what.
