So, don’t you just hate it when the sand sticks to your skin?  Last post we began to look at some “nuggets of perspective” that we could glean from observing a few of the events being held at the London Olympic Games.  And we began with the sport of Gymnastics.  Today, I thought we’d take a look to see if there are any “sticky” life takeaways from the “sands of London” or better said, the sport of Beach Volleyball.  Before we do that however it seems appropriate to consider just for a minute the abject craziness of what it must have been like to be a spectator at this event.  Consider this. Turn your head one way and you think you’re at the beach watching one of the newest sports to reach the global stage.  Turn your head the other and you’re staring the architectural beauty of Westminster Abbey with all of its rich history square in the face.  I wonder what the men buried in the Poet’s Corner of the Abbey would have to say about it all, especially the prolific Charles Dickens.  Talk about a time warp!

So, back to the beach volleyball… The first and most prevalent thought that comes to mind as I consider this sport it that at the end of the day, it is a partnership of two people.  Now, most in the work-a-day world would suggest the best partner to have is to not have one at all.  Stories abound where one partnership after the other have failed the test of time.  Even the most-valued partnerships of all, the partnerships of marriage have not been immune to such failures.  So, what do we see from this particular sport that might point us to the integral components for successful partnerships.  Well, simply put, it all begins with “the serve.”  So, how’s your serve or better said, “How well do you serve your partner?”  (Yikes, that one hit close to home.)  Or how well do you celebrate each other’s success and support each other’s failures?  Come on, I’m sure you noticed it.  Even when a point was scored for the opposing team the two players who lost the point would high five each other as if they had won the point.  This seems to speak volumes to the integral need for mutual encouragement in any partnership, win or lose?  Or how about the critical element of “setting” the ball?  Here we see a vivid illustration of how each member of the partnership has to “set” each other up to win but also give each other the freedom to fail.  In the end isn’t it less about winning each point and more about winning the game.  No doubt our days are chocked full of wins and losses but when the game as we know it, this side of Heaven, is over isn’t the question, “Have we set each other up to win at life?”  Well, I’m sure there are many other nuggets to be gleaned but let’s consider one more.  This one we’ll take from the words of Charles Dickens himself.  “Love is in all things a wonderful teacher.”  In the end, it seems I have a lot to learn.  How is it with you? Is any of this sticking to you too?  Peace.