The Olympics always inspire me. Even the sound of the drums and fanfare of “Bugglers Holiday” get my juices flowing.
It was an old friend who helped me appreciate the inspirational value. Bob Richards of the USA won the pole vault in Helsinki and Melbourne and became the first face of Wheaties. He became a motivational speaker all over the world, and even reached the top in our business. We were chatting in his ranch home outside Gordon, Texas, when he said, “I have spoken 1000’s of times to tens of thousands of people and as I look in the faces of the audience, they all seem to ask the same thing, ‘Tell me I can do something with my life’.” The stories abound of those who worked for “higher, faster, stronger.”
These Winter Olympics are especially inspiring if you paid attention. I did, because my son Jeff took his family to beautiful Vancouver for the first week. If you watched the spectacular Opening Night Ceremony which showcased Canada’s beauty and talent, you wanted to become a Canadian!
Who could not be inspired by the heroics of US Gold Winners, Lindsay Vonn in women’s downhill skiing, Shaun White and Seth Westcott in snowboarding, and Bode Miller in Combined downhill, the old guy still skiing to win it for his young daughter. Upsetting the Russian domination of men’s figure skating was USA’s harder-working Evan Lysacek with grandparents in Atlanta. Especially moving was the victory of the veteran Chinese pair figure skaters Shen and Zhao who had won every prize except Olympic gold. Four years ago after Silver, Shen proposed marriage to Zhao still on the ice. However, they postponed their marriage until after Vancouver for one last try. The whole world was cheering for them and their performance was flawless, the highest scores ever given in the short program!
Let me tell you, if you have a passionate dream and a strong work ethic, YOU CAN DO SOMETHING WITH YOUR LIFE!