Inspiration

I was finishing my leg workout just a little earlier and was brainstorming about what I was going to write about.  I had about half of this written in my head, I was going to talk about how my taper is going, how I'm feeling stronger, going up in my bench presses, squats, etc., but then I started thinking about Oscar Pistorius.  I'm not sure what brought it on, but I've been thinking about this inspirational athlete ever since a first heard about him and his journey to the Olympics.  As I'm sure most of you know, Pistorius is the first amputee runner to ever compete in the Olympics.  Please, bear with me, because this is just going to be a bit of stream of consciousness type blog today.

I love tales of inspiration, but there has been something that really affected me about Pistorius. I'm not sure what it is, maybe it's the fact that he just wants everyone to treat him the same.  He did not want special treatment and he did not want anything handed to him.  Maybe that is what was so beautiful to me about his loss.  Nobody took it easy on him.  Nobody felt sorry for him.  Nobody gave him anything.  It was as it had always been for him. 

Throughout the games he discussed how his late mother was a major inspiration for him and how she treated him no differently than his brother.  He told stories about how she told his brother to put his shoes on and told him to put his legs on.  He just thought he had a different kind of shoes.  He played sports and he had a regular childhood. 

NBC showed the work that he does with children.  They showed how he goes into classrooms, walks around outside with the kids and after they have grown comfortable with him, he shows them that his legs are amputated below the knee and his legs are actually prostheses.  He explains that their next reaction is always to check his arms and make sure those are real.

Every little thing about his story made me emotional and, as my wife will tell you, I never display emotion. The thing that set me over the top though, was when Kirani James exchanged bibs with Pistorius after he had beat him in the semi-finals.  That one moment signified everything that the Olympics is supposed to be about.  Even now, just thinking about it, I get overcome by it.

Where am I going with this?  I'm not sure, really.  I guess I just wanted to share my feelings on something that I'm sure moved us all.  Perhaps, I don't know, maybe I wanted to try and thank Pistorius for inspiring me.  Anyway, until next time, as always, train hard, have fun and be safe.