Every two years the Olympics, whether it is the summer or winter games, provides the world with an example of how people can set aside differences to focus on a common objective - sports in this case.
Now that the closing ceremony has taken place, and the visiting nations continue to filter out of Canada, the world's countries will again put all of their focus on tasks at hand. In America, a significant concern on the minds of many is when the economy will turn around, or if health care reform will every be passed. Elsewhere, the victims of the earthquakes in Haiti, and most recently Chile, struggle to regain a their lives torn apart by terrible natural disasters.
It is naive to think sports can cure any wrong or support any downtrodden in this world, but the Olympics can show that even though the goal is to beat another county in a sporting event unity and good sportsmanship are powerful virtues.
This lesson can be applicable to all levels of our daily lives. In business, performing ethically; in government, doing what is in the best interest of the people who an elected official was chosen to represent, and not some interest group or major political campaign donor.
It might be true that the principals embodied by the Olympics have been taught to most of us from a young age, but when they are practiced by all of the nations represented at the games it is a powerful symbol showing they are universal and not just applicable to America, Wisconsin or Monroe.
Of course, the Olympic system has had past examples of corruption and there have been instances of people cheating in the athletic competitions, but often those people are caught and punished. No system is perfect, but the unifying spirit of the games is typically stronger than the negative aspects of the event.
Until the summer games come around in 2012, remember Vancouver and lessons the Olympics can teach us.
Now that the closing ceremony has taken place, and the visiting nations continue to filter out of Canada, the world's countries will again put all of their focus on tasks at hand. In America, a significant concern on the minds of many is when the economy will turn around, or if health care reform will every be passed. Elsewhere, the victims of the earthquakes in Haiti, and most recently Chile, struggle to regain a their lives torn apart by terrible natural disasters.
It is naive to think sports can cure any wrong or support any downtrodden in this world, but the Olympics can show that even though the goal is to beat another county in a sporting event unity and good sportsmanship are powerful virtues.
This lesson can be applicable to all levels of our daily lives. In business, performing ethically; in government, doing what is in the best interest of the people who an elected official was chosen to represent, and not some interest group or major political campaign donor.
It might be true that the principals embodied by the Olympics have been taught to most of us from a young age, but when they are practiced by all of the nations represented at the games it is a powerful symbol showing they are universal and not just applicable to America, Wisconsin or Monroe.
Of course, the Olympic system has had past examples of corruption and there have been instances of people cheating in the athletic competitions, but often those people are caught and punished. No system is perfect, but the unifying spirit of the games is typically stronger than the negative aspects of the event.
Until the summer games come around in 2012, remember Vancouver and lessons the Olympics can teach us.
