So, have you mined any “gold” recently?  Just curious, does this question take you back to the days of that annual summer vacation pilgrimage to the mountains? You know, the days when you might have found yourself engaging in some “mineral mining” in a touristy corner of rural America? Or perhaps you were thinking of the question in terms of the more sophisticated and contemporary aspect of mining profits from gold investing. Well, I’m thinking of another type of gold mining; the mining of the gold “nuggets of perspective” that might come from a simple observation of the London Olympic Games.  So, I thought it might be fun over the next several posts to see what life perspective we might “mine” from a few of the events.

So, let’s start with Gymnastics where many of the individual events paint a somewhat vivid, parallel illustration of the way life comes at us. To name just a few; the uneven bars, the vault, etc. Or how about this one? The pommel horse which might be more appropriately named in this case, the pummel horse. Whether it is on the physical, the emotional or even the mental front life so often simply feels like one long, dizzying gymnastics event. But is there anything we can glean about life from these events. Well, in each case we have to face the fact that on any given day we will be better at handling the “degrees of difficulty” life sends our way than others. We have to realize that it’s not so much how we begin life but rather it’s more about how we “stick the landing” as we seek to finish well. No doubt we have to have a measure of consistent, intentional discipline in our lives to remain strong in the face of what life brings our way. And though much of our effort seems to suggest it is up to us to “perform” within our own strength we have to realize that our strength alone won’t enable us to win at life. We need a team around us to encourage us when we stumble, to remind us of our infinite worth when we too feel judged, to hold us accountable to a higher standard and to celebrate our victories with us. All of this has me wondering too if there’s not a lesson to be found here from that other gymnastic event…the “balance beam.” Peace.