Word of Encouragement

Okay, I have a confession to make. Given the controversy surrounding this year’s Olympics, I decided to go on an Olympics “diet” and just tune them out. Whether it was the debate about them even being held in light of the COVID crisis, the actions of one of the U.S. teams in pre-Olympic competitions, or the basketball team’s exhibition loss to Nigeria, I decided I had better things I could do with my time.

But I capitulated as I asked myself, “What can it hurt to watch just a little bit of the swimming? Or gymnastics? Or golf? Or…" I think you get the idea. Now, I have them recorded and can fast forward through the avalanche of commercials as I stay up late so I can watch as much of them as possible. In short, I’m hooked!

I enjoy watching great moments like Sunisa Lee winning the Gold medal in the individual all-around gymnastics competition, Katie Ledecky’s win in the 1,500 meter race or watching China, the United States and Australia all beat the World Record in the women’s 4 x 200M Free Relay Finals. Beyond the competitions themselves, I’ve also been interested in the stories that chronicle the dedication and sacrifices the athletes have made in order to rise to the top of their sports.

For example, Sunisa Lee is the first Hmong American to even make the U.S. Olympic Team. In reading about her accomplishments, I was struck and moved by the sacrifices she and her family made in supporting her journey to becoming a gold medal winner. She had every reason to quit, but time after time, she rose above the adversity as she continued to pursue her dream.

The dedication to pursuing dreams is why I was also attracted to the story about a Slovenian, Martin Strel, who in 2007, became the first person to swim the Amazon River—all 3,300 miles of it—in order to call attention to the impact of deforestation and river pollution. When I heard about this feat, I thought that the biggest threats would be battling all sorts of parasites and other yucky stuff in the Amazon like deadly piranhas, crocodiles, anacondas, river sharks, and the insidious candiru. But it turns out that another threat was that in certain parts of the Amazon, there are communities where the woman vastly outnumber the men and these women are aggressively looking for men to marry. So Martin’s security team had to take extra precautions to protect him from these Amazonian women!

A documentary film, “Big River Man,” chronicles his journey and the challenges he faced. So how did Martin keep himself motivated? He decided in advance that even on those days when he was not feeling well and could have easily justified taking a break, he needed to “get back in the river” and continue pursuing his dream.

Let me bring this close to home. Lately, with all the chatter about the “Delta variant,” various cities and states looking to reimpose the mask mandates, and uncertainty around the world, it just seems like there is a lot of “yucky stuff” floating around. But guess what? There is always stuff floating around!

For Sunisa Lee that “stuff” included the fact that in the 17 months prior to the Olympics, her gym shut down for a time due to the coronavirus, her dad was seriously injured after falling from a tree he was trimming, she lost two relatives to COVID-19 and she also endured a broken foot.

For Martin Strel, at the end of his journey his blood pressure was elevated, he was dehydrated and his entire body was full of bad stuff that caused severe diarrhea and exhaustion. But he experienced the thrill of seeing his dream come to fruition.

With so much “stuff” going on around the world things may seem a bit overwhelming. That is why Sunisa’s and Martin’s commitment to “getting back in the river” can serve as a powerful reminder that eventually things can and will get better if we have the proper perspective.

It affirms the words that are written in Deuteronomy where we are reminded to “be strong and courageous" and know that “the Lord goes before you and will be with you,” so we need not “be afraid, or discouraged.”