Inspirational Post – Your Daily Dose Of Inspiration

Pierre de Coubertin, founder of the modern Olympic Games once famously claimed in his native French: “L’important n’est pas de gagner, mais de participer (The important thing is not to win, but to take part).”

The Spirit of the Olympics Games is much more than the gold medals and the record breakers in the games. It’s about everyone who competes among the best and dreams to win, dreams to succeed! Though success in the Olympic Games is rated with number of medals an athlete or a country wins, there is more to the event than just a few that we recognize. There are those who push the ultimate winner to succeed – to make the pursuit of that record and win, even bigger and sweeter. And in the end when it all ends regardless of who came in first or second the real winner is the game.

Al McGuire, a famous basketball coach and a hall of fame inductee, famously said: ‘Winning is overrated.  The only time it is really important is in surgery and war. ‘

As the competition stands, one has to realize the fact that there can only be one winner. But that in no way could demean the effort one gave in the competition in the pursuit of one’s own dream – they too have contributed to the event and given it all and though not on record – they too are winners.

Derek Redmond, a British athlete, though having won many events and setting records in his time is most famously remembered for the race in 1992 Games where he tore his hamstring during the race but still pulled himself up and hopped across the track to complete the race and was treated to huge standing ovation from the crowd. This is the one of the most memorable events of the Games and truly signifies it Spirit. The spirit to compete and giving it your best shot, irrespective of the result.

But somehow these people gradually fade away from everyone’s eye and get lost in the mix. Still they take away the happiness of just being there and, without regrets take home the most precious moments of their lives. Everyone participating in the Games dream to be at the top, but sadly only a few among those dreams get fulfilled.

In this competitive world where winning has become an obsession, one fails to realize the importance of the one who does not come in first. Everyone cannot be first, but as the Olympics teach – to be a winner, you don’t have to be first! Any achievement – winner, medal or even finishing the race has to be a victory purely because one tried! Through the entire event everybody gives their competitor a challenge, a resistance of not giving it away and making the victory nothing but more difficult. But when it ends they meet and hug each other just to thank each other for getting the best out of him. The most respect given to the person who comes in second is by the one who comes in first.

In any sport or game or life for that matter, one has to realize the efforts put in by others and respect them for it. As rightly put in one of Olympics-Celebrate Humanity ad ‘…. though I aim to defeat you, should I succeed, I shall not humiliate you, instead I’ll honor you, for without you I am a lesser man!’