Olympians Are Just Like Writers!

I love seeing the joy on athletes' faces. #olympics

— Jamie Wesley (@Jamie_Wesley) February 13, 2014

I tweeted that a few days ago during the pairs figure skating competition when Russian teammates, Tatiana Volosozhar and Maxim Trankov, realized they’d won the gold.

They were so happy and I was thrilled for them. I smiled because they were smiling. They’d made their dream come true in spite of all the fierce competition from the other pairs and the pressure that comes from competing in your home country.

I’ve smiled a lot over the past week watching the Olympics because the athletes are smiling. Sometimes they’re grinning before they see their scores or see their time. Because they already know they’ve done a great job.

Crazy as it seems, I can relate to the athletes. I believe we all can. No, I’ll never win a gold medal in figure skating or gymnastics (the competitions I would compete in if I had any athletic talent whatsoever. And yes, I’ve thought about this. A lot). Still, there’s nothing like that rush you get for a job well done, whether it’s acing a test in school or putting together a great presentation at work.

As a writer, I get that rush from writing a piece of dialogue that makes me cackle because of its cleverness or fan myself because of its hotness. Or making the finals of the Golden Heart.

I get to live to my dream every day. That’s something I try not to take for granted. I don’t work anywhere near as hard as the Olympians, but over the past week, I realized  I need to if I want to reach the heights in my career I aspire to. So while I can relate to and cheer for the athletes, more importantly, I can learn from them.

In most cases, these athletes have been training since they were kids to get to this moment. I applaud and laud that sacrifice and that dedication. They’ve worked for their success. That joy on the Russians’ face? It was there because they won, but also because that time, that sacrifice had paid off. They’d earned that gold medal. Their hard work had paid off. Had it always been easy? No, but they picked themselves up and kept going.

So I need to keep working hard. We need to keep working hard so that our dreams, whatever they are, can come true. And when we do, the success will be all the sweeter.  

If you were an Olympian, what sport/event would you compete in? What do you dream about?