Making a Decision to Excel

There’s nothing like the Olympics; at least for me.

      And I suppose of all of my favorite sports, one of my top two or three is gymnastics. It’s not a sport for the faint at heart; at least if you happen to be the participant.

     As I write this I’m heavily engaged in watching this sport, among others.

     Last night an extremely talented guy named Paul Hamm competed against other world class athletes for the all-around single gymnastics title. Given he’s the current world gymnastics title holder, he was favored to win the gold medal.

    However, he had stiff competition from South Korea and Japan, and the fate of the gold medal remained in question throughout several rotations of the event. As the competition continued, mere thousandths of points separated the exceptional from the best.

     Then a crucial turn of events occurred which almost guaranteed failure for Paul Hamm. I watched as he ran down the lane towards what is referred to as the vault. As he sprang over it the incredible happened. He fell, and tumbled to his right, landing almost squarely in the arms of a judge! That “little slip” ushered him from 1^st place to 12^th place.

     Now friends, I don’t know about you, but that little slip would have driven most of us to “Give Up City.” The average man would have thrown up his hands in despair, and said, “I can’t do this.” But not Paul Hamm.

     Amazingly, he steeled himself for a final apparatus; the rings. I watched as he twisted, and cart wheeled, and all the rest, and finally dismounted to the carpet below. Absolutely flawless! Not only did he perform superbly on the rings, but he “stuck” the landing. He had done the (almost) impossible.

     I watched as our hero mounted the medal platform. He stood in the middle. He was crowned with a laurel wreath, and a GOLD medal was placed around his neck.

     People like Paul Hamm inspire us. We can only smile and shake our heads.

     But do we emulate them, or do we find ourselves forgetting that little reflection of excellence in favor of the average, mundane and generally mediocre? I think most of us find themselves in this general category.

     There’s a wonderful scripture that says something like, “Since we are surrounded by such a vast array of witnesses, let us strip off every article of clothing, and the sin that so easily attaches to us, and let us run with endurance the race that is ours to run.” (Hebrews 12:1 MPV)

     Track and Field was the most popular of sports in early Greek and Roman times. It was the custom for men to compete without a stitch of clothing. Now before you jump to conclusions; only men attended these events. In modern times we have reverted to spandex, but the principle is still the same; aerodynamics and speed.

      One of my personal heroes once wrote home to his mother. A 23 year old full colonel in the Civil War, Robert Gould Shaw led one of the first black regiments of the war. I can almost read his thoughts as he wrote, "Mother, I wonder if I will account for very much." (He did).

     And I have wondered the same thing, again and again. But that’s okay, and that happens. But the things that matter are the attitudes and the subsequent actions that look like never giving up. A friend of mine once said, “You only get a little stronger if every time you fall, you get right back up.” I believe her.

     A fairly (un)notable person in our time (me) once said: “Once we make the decision to excel, nothing, no one, nobody, no demon and no man can ultimately dissuade us from our task, and the excellent reward that follows.”

I believe that.

 

By William McDonald, PhD. Excerpt from "Musings"