ring cycle

hey, pals! sorry it has been so quiet over here lately. there just hasn't been much to say. the weather has been gray, stifling and oppressive. i got sick. AWD got sick. and then we started doing pretty much nothing but watch the olympics every night.

we don't actually have cable, so it wasn't looking too good for us and london 2012. but then AWD, being the gadget master that he is, found a little digital converter box that pulls TV waves right out of the sky and puts them on our screen. so we get olympics and technology magic!

so, since i don't have anything else going on, here are some of my favorite olympic moments and lessons.

1. it has been so refreshing to see strong, healthy bodies on TV instead of stick skinny ones. and i love that every olympic body is different. divers don't look like gymnasts don't look like weight lifters don't look like runners don't look like equestrians and on and on. no one is trying to meet some impossible uniform ideal. everyone is doing what's best for them, their body and their sport. you would think watching the world's fittest people compete would make me feel even worse about my body, but it's had the opposite effect. i feel refreshed and encouraged.

2. andy murray beating roger federer might have been one of the best moments of my life. it was so sweet.

3. the coverage of michael phelps has been admittedly tiresome (greatest olympian ever. we get it) but i love the story they keep telling about his 100 meter butterfly race in the beijing olympics where his goggles filled up with water and he couldn't see a single thing, but he had swam that race so many times he knew exactly how many strokes it would take him to get to the end of the pool. so, he counted his strokes, did his thing, and won. i have really appreciated this reminder that consistency leads to success and if we are in the habit and pattern of doing good things, adversity cannot deter us. we just need to keep our heads down and count our strokes and we'll come out on top.

4. i would like a job on the today show.

5. oscar pistorius of south africa made history over the weekend by becoming the first amputee to ever compete in olympic track. actually, that moment might edge out the andy murray win as my all-time favorite. to see a double amputee running in the olympics (and qualifying for the 400 meter semifinal!), well, i'm not sure there is anything more amazing. in an interview after the race oscar said, "just because you are disabled doesn't mean you are disadvantaged." let's just think about that for a minute. i know there are definitely times when i feel "disabled" emotionally, spiritually or otherwise. sometimes it just feels like you are losing at life, and it's easy to fall into the trap of thinking that we can never be as good or as well off as before that particular trouble found us. but, here is what i learned from oscar: problems don't put us behind. and sometimes, they can even move us ahead.

it's obviously been a good olympics for me. how about you?