Overcome

"All the world is full of suffering. It is also full of overcoming it."

- Hellen Keller

This year's summer Olympics were particularly inspiring to me and I'm not ready to let them go. I heard story after story of personal triumph over adversity and witnessed amazing courage and strength in competition. Maybe it was a deliberate focus of the media this time around, or maybe we as a society are at a point where we care to know what a person has overcome to get to such a pinnacle in their lives. To remember that each Olympian is human, like you or me, and has had to cope with sometimes extreme difficulty to achieve their dreams reminds me of our innate resilience. 

Though there were broadcast biographies that exemplified the amazing strength of the human spirit, I know that each person that competed at the games has their own personal story of overcoming. Stories like: Oscar Pistorius (pictured) nicknamed "Blade Runner", who claims he never thought of himself as having a disability after having both legs amputated at age 11 months, he just thought he had different shoes; Bryshon Nellum, the sprinter from USC who was shot in both legs and had to undergo surgeries and rehabilitation to be able to walk again, let alone run; Kellie Wells, a hurdler who overcame abuse as a teenager and loss of her mother and is just recently speaking about what she endured; to Lolo Jones, sprinter, who was raised by a hardworking single mother and overcame poverty and homelessness; and Tahmina Kohistani, sprinter from Afganistan, by her mere identity as a female runner is seen as a threat in her country overcame pressure and discrimination to compete under her country's flag. These stories remind us to keep going, to not give up. When I hear of what others have accomplished despite their setbacks, I become a well of hope and strength.  I can't help but think if they can do it, so can I.

While I don't have Olympic aspirations, I know that whatever I can dream, I can achieve. We were not given aspirations to have them sit idle, we were also given exactly what we require to achieve exactly what was put in our hearts, no matter what is going on in our lives. How can I have any excuses after these living examples? There are none. Read about the people we just watched living their dreams in front of millions, they did it, so can I... so can you.