I tell others that I don’t love sporting events. I don’t have a favorite team. I don’t have a sport that I know all the names and statistics for.
And there are times that I love sporting events. I love them in the same way that I love a good concert or play. I love the mystery and hard work of teams and individuals. I love a final product, a final competition that represents hours and hours of work.
What we get to see when we watch a sporting event is just the external of an incredibly complicated vessel. The vessel of an athlete holds failures and disappointment. An athlete is in an ongoing relationship with knowing and caring for their body. An athlete has a squad of supporters and trainers and coaches. An athlete has relationships with other athletes that both support and challenge them. An athlete has the history of the sport and those that have gone before them. An athlete has personal relationships. An athlete has other interests and hobbies. They have a favorite food, a preferred music style, and maybe a favorite show or streamer to watch.
Yet WE See
- 15 seconds from for the ski jump competition
- Less than Minute for Luge
- Less than two minutes for the Slalom Ski Run
- Four minutes for the Free Skate in Figure Skating
- Even for the longer events like women’s hockey – just an hour.
The vessel, the story, the unseen choices and actions prepare and allow the athlete to have the two minutes of glory that we all watch.
Most of life is the Vessel. For them and for us. I will never participate in a luge competition. My biggest skill on ice skates (and it’s been years) is to skate backwards.
My vessel – and probably yours – isn’t going to end with an Olympic medal hung around our necks. AND I feel almost certain, that if you look back you will see that there were 15 seconds in a conversation that you showed up brilliantly. That two minutes when your kid was having a tantrum and you didn’t lose your mind – well done. Those four minutes of sharing what you know with another person in your profession – you never know how far that will go out into he world.
We are filling our vessels, writing our stories, in our basic boring everyday choices that make us who we are.
I’m so proud of what we are creating.