The Olympics

[TINA-T]

Nancy

Getting back to your ORIGINAL question.......in my opinion, NO!! I do not think it is wise to risk further or devastating injuries.

And NO Sharon I am NOT that old not to remember.... lol, but what I remember is always always being aware of my arms?? I don't have the luxury of being "brainy" like Nancy haha.........or a risk taker like some of the rest of you..........

Must be how and why I developed my "class clown" approach to life????? Hey we have to be good at something right

OK.....OK.......I can see you all rolling your eyes, I won't turn this into another "book" lol......................

[francine]

I just wanted to add something to this stew.... I look at these athletes and wonder if they ever had a childhood, played with dolls, just had fun for the fun of it. Could they admit that they just weren't feeling well or just tired and stay home from practice and watch cartoons?

There was a child in my eldest daughter's school that was brought up to be an olympian...I don't even think it was her choice - she was pushed and pushed and pushed since she was a wee one. So sometimes I wonder how much child abuse has gone into this mix..does a 2 year old want to be an Olympian?

The bigger comment I guess is of school themselves and these days there is no place or very few opportunities for a child to just play a sport (not on a competitive team) and this to me is very sad.

Adena loved soccer, loved to swim, loved volleyball...but she was never good enough to be on a team, therefore never just got to play these sports for fun in school. I think that competition is great BUT there needs to be a good mix so that every child can take part in a sport just because it's fun.

So I kinda changed the subject...sorry....

-francine

[Kathleen]

I'm a rambler-- I'm a gambl--- Ops I sang my way through school. Definitely not brainy like Nancy. I want you to know-- believe it or not I was quiet in school... yup A in Conduct. LOL...But I am the family clown. Well not just the family anymore! Tina I knew from your very first post you were the girl I would have love to have sit next to me... LOL... and Nancy I have seen glimpses of that clown waiting to jump out! Now can you teach me how to spell... Sharon stay out of those trees!!!

I thought I could do anything... I believed I could... I just never realized I could not do something until I tried and tried and tried and tried.. well you get it!

As for the Olympics I love to watch. However I think it is not worth working with an injury. I feel for someone who has worked hard to get there. But we have all had to learn that some things in life you just can't have. Life is more then one competition and some injuries will effect the quality of a persons entire life.

Now for my skiing adventure...
Mom never told me I could not do anything but when I went skiing with my friends in my twenties (that was the time I told her) she did not want me to try. She was so worried I would hurt my unaffected arm. She never did that before. Ahhh youth!!! I had no idea what hurting the unaffected arm would do. So I put on the ski's went to the instructor, who was very cute but a bit older maybe 28 LOL. I took my lesson on how to fall. I started down the slope and kept loosing control and balance soooo I sat down 10 times on one small tiny slope. As if that wasn’t enough – at the bottom of the hill I had to face the real challenge. HOW to I hang on to the TOW rope! Now that was dumb I never even thought I could not hang on. I stood there not knowing what to do thank goodness for the cute older man. The ski instructor had to help me...LOL.. Of course my friends swore I was flirting... they never realized I could not do it.... So that ended my attempt at being an Olympic Ski Champ.... LOL
That night at dinner I got a pillow and a round of applause for being the best faller in the class...LOL I still went skiing after that with my friends. But I stayed close to the fireplace and they went to the slopes sometimes. Oh by the way I met my husband on a Ski weekend in Mass. So I guess not skiing paid off for me )

But at least I tried...that once... now tennis is still the thorn in my side... LOL...

All kidding aside I was once hit by a drunk driver in my twenties and for one week my left unaffected arm was out of commission... I could not move it... that was a very early and important lesson... I stick to water sports....now like HOT TUBS... and heated swimming indoor pools.... LOL.....lazy girl that I am....
But I will still go down a road just because I have never been on it. And I still look at anything I have never tried to do and wonder "hmmm wonder how I can do this" so I think I still have some spirit of adventure left.
Kath

[Bridget]

Okay, my two cents...I spent my youth as an athlete (competitive swimming, volleyball, softball and everything else) and was even an All-American swimmer in high school. My siblings were into sports as well, and we LOVED it. We choose to participate, and I wouldn't change a thing about all those hours I spent in the pool.

The lessons I learned and the insight I gained about myself carry over into every aspect of my life. Having said that, it will come as no surprise that I love watching the Olympics! In fact, my son was born (obpi) just days before the Winter Olympics of 1994, and my feelings about his injury, his "limitations" and all the rest are very intertwined with the Olympics and all they represent.

I find Nancy's question interesting, because I would never have considered it...especially if I were lucky enough to be an Olympic athlete...NOTHING would keep me from performing if I were at all able, even the risk of permanently damaging my body.

I think that serious athletes have a different relationship with their bodies than most people do...

Here's another thought on limitations: While my son grew in my tummy I dreamed of him someday being an Olympic swimmer (my own unfulfilled dream). When he was born and his arm was injured, I could not believe the depth of my devastation...there went MY dreams for his Olympic future. Then, in the days following his birth, to watch the Olympics was like having salt rubbed in that particular wound...it was a very dark time for me in many ways.

Fast forward to Ian at age two, this time watching the Summer Olympics with me...my sadness was there, but so much lessened with time, and tempered with the joy of my son for who he is. I had let go of my dream for him, and then he surprised me by announcing that he himself planned on being in the Olympics someday: on a horse! He had somehow chosen a sport that is entirely possible for him to be an Olympian in, regardless of his injury. I was floored and amazed.

Of course today he shows little interest in horses or of being an Olympian (he wants to play baseball for the Diamondbacks), but that lesson I learned that day was of Olympic proportions, and carries over into the way I view my son today and how I strive to never place any limitations on him...he will determine those himself.

Bridget