Imagine a World...

 

I’ve got to admit something. I can be a pretty emotional guy. Keep in mind that I grew up in an era where men didn’t show their emotions. Men never cried. Not in public anyway.

But I found myself really getting misty-eyed over so many moments during the Olympics. The joy. The sadness. The jubilation. The disappointment. The dreams fulfilled.  The dreams dashed.

I’m thankful to have been able to watch so much of the events from Paris. Thank you Covid (I guess). Actually, Covid didn’t hit me that hard—just chest congestion and lack of energy.

I’m fortunate that I have a really great live-in caregiver (my wife) and colleagues at work that I knew were taking good care of my patients. I have a latitude not enjoyed by everyone. I didn’t have to worry about my next meal or paying the rent.

So, I was able to enjoy these Olympics.  I watched Steph Curry single-handedly guarantee victory for the US men’s basketball team. With the US team behind much of the game, the team from France was poised for a huge upset when Steph hit four straight threes to seal the win for the US.

His fourth, coming while double-teamed from well beyond the arc, with a third player from France stepping over to help, will go down as one of the greatest shots in Olympic basketball history.

The US women’s basketball team was also pushed to the precipice by a team from France but somehow pulled it out. Same with the US women’s soccer team. A new set of soccer stars were born on that pitch.

When Sha’Carri Richardson glanced over on the final stretch of the women’s 4x100m race, it was a moment for the ages. She had taken the baton in fourth place but left no question who that race belonged to.

When Tara Davis-Woodhall ran to her husband’s hug after clinching the long jump gold, their shared joy was pure bliss. If you didn’t know it, he’s a Paralympic athlete himself.

Athletes from tiny places winning their country’s first medal of any kind simply must be celebrated. The purity of the effort and the dedication it took to get there made so many moments memorable.

But my favorite moment in all these Olympics had nothing to do with what was happening in the competition. Late in the women’s gold medal Beach Volleyball match between Canada and Brazil, words were exchanged between the competitors. It appeared to be quite heated, with an official stepping in to separate the two.

Then the crowd, prompted by the stadium DJ, started singing “Imagine,” John Lennon’s 1971 hit.

“Imagine all the people, living for today. Imagine there’s no countries, it isn’t hard to do. Nothing to kill or die for and no religion too. Imagine all the people, living in peace.”

The Olympics help us realize that we are all part of the human race. Through these athletes, we can hopefully grasp that people all around the world want the same things. Love. Family. Happiness.

When they lose and their family cries with them, we feel that. It doesn’t matter what country they are from. When they overcome huge odds and realize their dreams, we celebrate with them, regardless of the flag on their uniform. When they run over, seeking a face in the crowd, maybe a spouse or their mama or daddy, we realize just how very human they are.

With the hate and divisiveness, with war and hunger and poverty, it does us good to realize how profoundly we are all alike. There is hope.

…and the world will be as one.