This will be my final Olympic lesson, although there is so much more to be learned from all those amazing athletes. For some, this may also be one of the most important lessons. I dedicate this blog to the Vancouver Olympic Planning Committee.
I'm sure Vancouver started planning their opening ceremony even before it was announced they would be the host city. Over four years of preparation to make sure everything would be perfect. Every detail checked and re-checked and then checked again. I can't imagine the magnitude of stress the committee felt.
The opening ceremonies were phenomenal. My favorite part was when the whales swam across the arena and mist blew into the air as if they were surfacing for breath. That was AWESOME! The whole show was magical. It couldn't have been more perfect, until... it was time for the torch. Four holes opened in the floor, but only three pilars rose up. Something went wrong with the fourth pilar so it never appeared. That was the only flaw in the enthralling performance.
During the two weeks of competition, the Committee could have let the mistake slip into oblivion. However, when it came time for the closing ceremonies, a clown came out of the hole in the floor where the fourth pilar lay dormant. He grabbed two plugs and hooked them together. Sparks flew, and the fourth pilar came up. They had turned the flub into a comical moment for all the world to laugh.
What a perfect ending to a wonderful story. What a perfect lesson for me to learn. We will all make mistakes throughout our lives. We get upset, we cry, we pull our hair out, we yell, we scream, etc. What we really should be doing is gleaning the lessons we can learn from the mistake and then laugh at how silly it all is in the bigger scheme of things.
Congratulations Vancouver Olympic Planning Committee for putting together a wonderful two weeks!!! You deserve a gold medal for all your hard work! And thank you for not taking yourselves too seriously! We all need to laugh a little more!
CITIUS, ALTIUS, FORTIUS!!!
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We watched the opening ceremonies with Peter's parents and you are right: they were phenomenal! I'm sad though we didn't get to see the closing ceremonies. Thanks, Sue, for sharing the "little-known treasures" of the Olympic games.
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