I was watching the Tokyo 2020 Olympic
highlights which were showing the swimming finals. As I continued watching, I could
not help but admire the determination and energy expended during the less than
1 minute of each race.
In most cases, the races were under 25
seconds and that time was the most critical part of whatever it is they have
been training for most of their lives. As I watched the swimmers move through
the water with so much intensity and their entire mind and body moving in sync
towards their goal of winning the race, I thought to myself what it really
takes to be an Olympic athlete let alone a medalist.
It certainly requires a lot of sacrifice
and hard work to reach the pro athlete level. You need to prepare in most cases
even 10 years before for our colleagues in the western world who start from
primary school. Throughout this 10-year period, it takes a lot of daily training,
eating healthy as well as mental preparation. It also requires starting from
somewhere or as an amateur, getting feedback from mentors and coaches as well
as participating in smaller tournaments and qualifying to championships to be
able to make it to the Olympics for that 10 or 20 second period which will
define the rest of their lives.
In a similar fashion this can be said of
you today. What is your 10 or 20 second moment (final) which you can earnestly look
forward to be involved in? What practice or preparations should you undertake
on a daily basis to be able to become an Olympic athlete and perform at the
highest level? What will be your crowning moment?
Whatever that moment is, it certainly
requires daily practice with regular feedback on the preparations engaged in.
it doesn’t happen overnight but may take years working behind the scenes to get
to a position where you can 1st compete in national, regional, continental
and finally at the Olympics.
In much the same way that when someone decides
to be a runner, his entire life and focus changes. He starts running everyday
as his main activity. He may have to get the right gear (shoes, clothes, etc),
eat the right food and go to the gym, read about how to be more effective at
his practice and get a coach or trainer but his main activity will be to run.
Are you a writer who doesn’t write, a
cartoonist who doesn’t draw, singer who doesn’t sing, a painter who doesn’t paint,
a programmer who doesn’t code, etc? As long as you do not practice or train on
a regular consistent basis like the pro athlete you will never realize your “Olympic
Dream”.
Remember the race may only take 20
seconds for the athlete’s life to change forever but the preparation to be in
that position might have taken 10 or more years. The investment (10 years) is
the key to the successful outcome (20 seconds).
Just like the athletes at the Olympics
who by working on their gifts or talents, they were able to go further than
they imagined, so in a similar way by working on your gifts, the gift will
elevate you to much more than the Olympic moment -Proverbs 18:16
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