Why Olympics are special

Olympic 2020 recently concluded in Tokyo, Japan. The Olympics (summer, winter, and Paralympics) are the most recognized and celebrated sports events in the world. This is not just because of tradition and glamour, but because of the aspirational aspect associated with it. It is the struggles of Olympic participants and their stories that make this event special. Winning an Olympic medal is a dream of every sportsperson (if it's an Olympic sport), but this is just one part, when people reach that stage and share with the world their struggles to reach there inspires millions. Every participant nation expects to win a medal, no matter whether it's a Gold, Silver, or Bronze, an Olympic medal has a special place and recognition. Winners, as well as non-winners, get famous, sometimes participants miss a medal by a whisker, by 1/10th of a second. Some participants become overnight stars, or some stars take bold steps to highlight issues that people hesitate to discuss, for example, mental health or discrimination.

Every participant comes with his or her unique story to the Olympics, some of them are stories about incredible inspirational journeys. For example, Allyson Felix's comeback journey after her daughter's birth to become the most decorated athlete of the USA, Hidilyn Diaz of the Philipines winning the first Gold for the Philipines, or Neeraj Chopra from India winning India's first-ever track and field gold, even they all won a Gold medal their stories are different and unique. The Olympic medal also offers instant fame to the winners, for example, Neeraj Chopra from India was already doing great in the javelin throw, he was undefeated since 2018 in all the events he participated in, and he topped the qualifying round, but his country only noticed his talent when he won India's first-ever track and field Gold, this is the power of an Olympic medal. Winning is not as important as participating is, some participants even after getting injured or being in the last position complete their event, not for any medal or record but to fulfill their dream of being an Olympian who finished the event. 

I enjoy watching the Olympics just because of these stories, they inspire me, and they give me hope. Many sports like track and field or swimming I don't follow at all, I only watch them during the Olympics and enjoy the drama and action. This year's Olympics were more special as they happened when the world was facing a pandemic crisis. The event got delayed by a year, even though it happened in 2o21, it was called Tokyo 2020, or Olympic 2020. The event is over, it gave the world a lot to look forward to, some athletes like Simone Biles took an unprecedented and brave step to withdraw from some of the events to focus on their mental health. I am sure each one of us looks at the Olympics from a different lens and may have something to share. Like most previous Olympics this Olympics also didn't disappoint, thank you Japan, thank you Tokyo for giving us a chance to witness this amazing spectacle of sports.

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Find your own Everest and try to conquer it

Everest summit is a challenging expedition for anyone and under any known standards, it's not only dangerous, but also financially, mentally, and physically very demanding process. Everyone can't dream of attempting this adventure, one needs proper training and expertise to try this, and even after this, there is no guarantee of success. This post is not about know-how about how to climb Everest successfully, but it is about the fact that we all face some challenges in our lives that are as difficult and challenging for us individually. Sometimes these challenges are so tough that metaphorically we can compare them with the Everest summit.

Is this comparison fair? I think it is. Everyone has their own Everest to climb. It doesn't have to be the actual Mount Everest for everyone, for many of us, there could be challenges that are as difficult as climbing the actual Mount Everest. I call this our personal Everest challenge. For someone, it could be learning how to speak English. or someone, it could be how to drive. For someone, it could be to switch professions or change jobs. For someone, it could be to fight discrimination or some other social challenge. Depending on the stage of our life and our individual characteristics and circumstances things can be incredibly challenging to achieve. My advice is, to find your own Everest and try to conquer it. It will take a lot of training, hard work, determination, and persistence, success may not be guaranteed, but that rewarding journey is worth all the effort. If you manage to finish the task, don't forget to celebrate the achievement, and cherish the success. It is important to enjoy the journey as well as celebrate achievements. We often undermine our own struggles and triumphs. Not everyone wins the Olympic Gold, no doubt, that's a great achievement, but so is overcoming some individual hardship and conquering something that was considered unachievable for us. Also, remember that each individual's Everest is different. Someone can speak English or Spanish easily doesn't mean it's easy for everyone. For someone it could be a dream of their life to master that language, for them, that's their Everest, the ultimate goal to achieve. For someone, it might be how to drive, for someone it might be how to fight against some disability. Find your challenge and pursue it, give it your blood, sweat, and tears, and then see how it feels when you achieve it. All the very best with your personal Everest challenge.

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