DO NOT CALL THE AMAZING NORMAL
Not only does life have meaning, every minute does. We get 1,440 minutes in a day. What you get out of life is how wisely you invested them.
There is a field of theological study called Applied Semiotics. It discusses the meaning that is created by signs and symbols. As we go through our world, we create meaning in what we see and experience through the 3 questions we’re supposed to be asking ourselves:
Why am I here?
Where am I going (More importantly, where is God going and am I going with Him?)
How do I make the most out of my time while I’m here?
If we’re not focused, we’ll pass right by the road signs of life, miss our destination, and risk falling short of the potential we all have.
The theme for the 2012 Olympics was Amazing Awaits” (Taken from the poem below). When you set a goal, like achieving gold in a world competition, science shows you create an awareness of how you use your minutes.
Where are you going? How clear and lofty you set your goals will determine whether you are getting from those few minutes your life has to offer or just getting through them.
The athletes who make the Olympic Team and go on to win medals are all ridiculously, incredibly talented at winning. They are literally the best of the best at achieving success.
To be an Olympian or an Olympic gold-medal-winning champion is so remarkable, it is almost beyond the realm of comprehension. I wrestled in junior high, high school, and college, and I continue to coach high school and college kids today. While I had dreams of being the best of the best, the fact was, I had no idea how to do that. Effectively, I never achieved it. That is why I became extremely excited when I had the opportunity to treat and counsel hundreds of Olympians and dozens of Olympic medalists. While at first my excitement was about having a chance to work with champion athletes, my joy ultimately came not so much in being their doctor, but in being their student.
I not only had the opportunity to work with these incredible human beings and observe and participate in their training and preparation, I also was able to go to the Olympics and other world events with them. Over the years, I began to see the major differences between losers and winners at the highest level possible. The rules of success that made the best athletes winners are also the rules of success in life. Set Olympic goals, align with others on the same Olympic path, get Olympic level coaching, work hard, and stay the course.
Amazing awaits.
Amazing awaits.
Where we least expect it,
or after training for it all our lives.
it awaits in 200 meters,
in a hundreth of a second,
in our courageous first steps,
and with our every last breath.
it awaits on the shoulders of our teammates,
in the footsteps of our heroes,
When we shatter records,
and our spirits prove unbreakable
amazing awaits
when a small-town playground takes us
to the world's stage,
And when that distance is measured in effort.
When hope makes us hopefuls
and bravery carries us on her back.
it awaits when we cross finish lines,
and when the journey has just begun.
when we come from nothing, from nowhere.
over hurdles, over mountains.
amazing awaits in our Olympians.
in all Americans.
in the honor of victory
and the glory of pursuit.
it awaits when we work hard enough,
Want badly enough, and refuse to say we've had enough.
With a nation behind us,
and the world before us,
and within us all...
Originally a poem by Dr. Maya Angelou, The Olympics Committee changed it:
https://www.facebook.com/MayaAngelou/posts/10151169909364796
Have fun saving the world!
Dr. Ben