Olympics

It’s Olympic time again. In a recent conversation I was reminded that I know a fair bit about the Olympics because I knew an Olympian…Casey FitzRandolph, 2002 gold medalist in the 500 meter speed skating. I got to know Casey and his family during his first Olympics, when he didn’t win a medal. (I can’t bring myself to saying anyone loses at the Olympics, because to even make it there is an accomplishment most of us never even dream of.) Casey was a hometown boy in the community I was working in then.

Casey’s story isn’t so different from the other athletes. He was inspired by someone at a young age. He devoted literally decades of his life to the sport. His family sacrificed beyond what many could even begin to think of sacrificing. But he reached his dream...an Olympic gold medal.

As I reflect on his perseverance, I think about my own life over the past year. What I thought was maybe a time of patience testing, turned into one of perseverance training. From character attacks to life and death situations in the family to physical trauma to financial concerns, there were times it seemed non-stop. There were times I wanted to change my life-course rather than persevere through the storm. Yet something nagged at me to stand firm.

Here’s a definition I found for perseverance: steady persistence in a course of action, a purpose, a state, etc., especially in spite of difficulties, obstacles, or discouragement.

Maybe the “testing” will end, when I learn to disregard the discouraging times. Maybe testing never ends until our lives do. The question then becomes, do I change when circumstances do, or do I remain firm where I’m at? The answer is in knowing when to do which.

Casey could have quit after his first Olympics…but he persevered another four years and won. The television is filled with similar stories of Olympians…and always the same theme…they persevered. Do we know what direction to go? Are we willing to do what it takes to get there?