An Olympic Thought

I was going to blog about something funny--now I can't remember what it was--but as I sit here, I am horrified to learn that a "copy cat" killing has occurred in Minnesota. It's times like this where I fight to keep from plunging into the icy depths of despair. I could spend countless hours trying to discover why these things are happening and why someone can do such horrific acts. I would  never arrive at a conclusion. It is, in my mind, senseless.  We all ask ourselves these same questions and I find it almost comical that in the end we blame it on the welfare system, the poverty level, the jobless rate, the lack of health care. We end up pointing fingers at each other never really accepting responsibility.

PLEASE! In no way am I implying that you or I have any part in the recent events--please do not leave me a nasty comment. 

Hilary Clinton said once "It takes a village to raise a child"-- at the time I could not wrap my head around what she meant...if I'm busy raising my own kids how the hell do I find time to raise yours!?  Since then I have learned that it was, an African proverb that basically means the raising of any child is shared by the immediate family and the extended family. We look out for one another. Case in point: right now, "across the pond" there are 204 countries all competing for bragging rights. Ordinary people hoping to become extraordinary and "bring home the gold". People of all ages, educational backgrounds, etc. have gathered in one location. They all start on a level playing field, if you will, because they all are the best at what they do competing with other equals. They all wake up every morning while in London with butterflies in their bellies and they all go to sleep hoping they do better tomorrow.  They all dream about winning a gold medal. They all rehearse in their minds how they will spike the ball, stick the landing, swim the backstroke, pace their run, move in synchronicity, etc. In this time they are all focused on one thing, a common goal. To win. We would be wise to learn from these athletes. They have shown us that the lines between races ( black white, Asian, etc), education and income have been blurred. They have shown us that when one has lost, they all have lost, when one wins, they all win.

When one of us is lost then we are all lost. The tragedy of 3 weeks ago and of today affect us all. It is not just an American or a British or a Chinese or Japanese thing but a PEOPLE thing.... a village. If we are to avoid the undoing of mankind, we must strive to come together as one huddled mass with one common goal. To win.....win the "war" against poverty, homelessness, and the declining educational system to name a few. We can no longer afford the maintain  every man for him or herself.

I leave you with this. There is a movie called Pay it Forward. If you've never seen it, you really should. The message in this movie is clear: when you do something good for someone else, their "repayment" to you is giving it to someone else. In other words if I make a food box for someone who has little or no food, they repay my kindness by doing the same thing for someone else rather than giving me the food back. We are all Olympians in our own right. We all have the potential for extraordinary. We are all  the Village and the child is one another.