GOING FOR THE GOLD

August 2017 - Mindful Moments
As Los Angeles in America is in the finals to be an Olympic host hits the news today I found this blog post I wrote while watching another Olympic year go by. Thinking of that coincidence, I decided to share it as the Mindful Moment blog this month.
These amazing sport games remind me that it is possible for us as the world to get together and participate in games for sport instead of war. We are a world united during that time. Here’s to more of that world peace spirit out into the collective that we are today!
 
Enjoy !
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Going for Gold
 
"That's why I do what I do, to give people the opportunity to see the world in a different way."  - Pete Nelson, Treehouse Masters
 
As I watch the Sochi Olympics I am transported to another world, a world of athletes, a world of ice, a world where the day to day is completely filled with the focused goal of gold. I see the athletes. This is their day. This is their moment. Their whole lives have lead up to this place, right here, right now. You can feel the intensity. It is almost solid in it's form.
 
These are not the drop of the hat, let's do this on a whim, athletes. The Olympians have been training for these days since childhood. Their families have sacrificed, their siblings supported and sacrificed.  Some have moved to different cities with their whole families just to train with certain coaches or in certain programs. Some have moved on their own without their families. They have gone through hell and back more than once through broken bones, defeat, anger and frustration. They have been tested physically, emotionally and mentally. And yet, they fight. And yet, they continue. And yet, they are here, taking the chance to win gold. 
 
It is a unique person who has that drive, that passion, that power within themselves to go all the way. How many of us have anything within us that deep, that intense, that incredible to go through all that for a goal, for a sport? 
 
If you ask an Olympian what it is that drives them, more often than not, they say they love the sport. Period. They would be doing it even if they weren't going for gold, even if no one was watching, even if they could never win anything, they would still be skiing, still be snow boarding, figure skating, luging, playing hockey and all the other wondrous winter sports. They do it because they love it. Period. Sometimes when you love something that much, you want to do the best and you shoot for gold. Sometimes you win. Sometimes you don't. You know what keeps them going? Playing again. Getting back in the skies, back in the slopes and back on the ice, back to what they love to do. That is what heals the pain.
 
Out of all the things that exist in my life, creativity, writing, art, design, music, poetry, photography keep me going. I may be shooting right now for my own kind of Gold, but even if there is no medal at the end, no one cheering me on or the podium in my future, I will still write. I will still create. I will still sing. I will still paint. I will still do what it is I love to do. That, I believe, is the greatest prize of all. 
 
What is it in your life you would do, no matter what? What brings you the most joy, fulfillment, satisfaction in life? 
 
We are all our own athletes on this journey of life. We all have a drive to do something, an interest in something. What is your sport? What is your love? What is your gold?
 
Thankful to have you here to play with me! May we race together, cheering each other on every step of the way. 
 
With love ~Jeannine
 
 
Copyright © 2014 Jeannine Proulx, All rights reserved.
 
 
All my love - Jeannine