Olympic Observation

There's nothing like a weekend of Olympic spectating to bring on thoughts of "would-a", "should-a", "could-a"!   

I'm not an avid television viewer but there is just something special about the Olympics.   We taped the opening ceremonies and watched them as a family Friday evening while eating pizza.   The younger children were convinced the Queen had really just jumped out of the helicopter! Fun!   It was a great show and following the entrance of the first few athletes (let's face it .... that part is a little boring!)  the kids had some excellent questions about how old they all were, what makes them special, what an opportunity, where are they from etc.   It was a great combination of some world geography, inspiration and motivation!

But for this Mom I have to be honest when I say it may have caused me to stop a moment and contemplate how much time I have "wasted" in my life.   I mean, just look at some of these kids (yes I am now old enough even "20-30 somethings" seem like "kids"), and what they have accomplished!   Wow!   Some of these athletes are only 15 years old!   On the surface it would seem my life in comparison was a tad lame!   How easy it is to define who we are by the accomplishments and awards of others.

Without a doubt these athletes deserve much respect for the thousands of hours and often many years of dedicated training...blood, sweat and tears as it were!    But we all are not destined to Olympic Gold by these parameters.   Funny, as I was explaining how hard these athletes had trained and how we have all been blessed with some gift or another I quickly found myself teaching my kids a lesson I perhaps should heed.

Thoughts including "If only I had finished my degree at university I would have..." and "I should have pursued...and then..." and "I could have done..." are a senseless waste of time.   It seems easier when it is a mother life lesson to one of my children!  

Being a mom is not for the faint of heart.   I have put in thousands of hours, in fact many years of honing the many skills that I have.    I have bled, and sweat and cried and will no doubt continue to do so for many more years!    I have hurdled toys while gracefully negotiating my living room en route to a screaming child, fenced many matches with a battery powered light sabre, weight lifted heavy sleeping children up the stairs to their beds, synchronized the lives of 10 people, rowed across a lake when the motor died in the rain, wrestled many children in an effort to prevent bodily harm to a sibling, and let's face it, live a marathon that is my life every single day!!

So...my conclusion is simply this...aside from my recommendation that Mothering should certainly be on the docket for the next Olympics and most certainly gold medals should be awarded :)...but that the importance of being content with where you are is absolutely paramount!

                  

I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith.
2 Timothy 4:7