Being Exceptional

In recent weeks I, and no doubt a significant proportion of the population of Great Britain, have been obsessively watching the London Olympic Games.  I cannot put in to words the admiration I have for the organisers, the volunteers and the athletes themselves for putting on such an incredible show.  It has been exciting, nail-biting, edge-of-your-seat stuff for 16 days, showing the world not only can Great Britain host an exciting event, but that our athletes can compete and win a staggering number of medals.  But if what we have seen is the cream of the British crop, then what is to come in another fortnight can only be considered the clotted cream... for the Paralympics is coming!  Another swathe of incredible athletes trained to their peak, to show us superhuman feats of strength, speed, flexibility, control and general amazingness.

My self-confidence has definitely taken a bashing over the past few years, and the Olympics has made this significantly more pointed - if Jessica Ennis and her team-mates are the poster children of the generation, honed to physical perfection and excelling at their particular sport, then what am I in comparison?  Distinctly average. What do I excel at?  What will I be remembered for in ten or twenty years time?  I swam forty lengths today - but it's unlikely I'll be called up to represent my country any time soon in the 1,000m gentle breast-stroke final, coming in with a new world record at 43 minutes.

And my heart goes out to those that didn't win - the swimmers apologising to the country for 'only' coming 3rd, or for not winning a medal at all.  What on earth is there to apologise for? Jeez, you are such a let down to your country, only being one of the top ten at your sport in the whole world! You might as well just jack it in now and become a BBC Sports presenter.  To represent your country at the Olympic Games (or similar) means that you are the best in the country.  I think that's something to be ridiculously proud of, not to apologise for.  So, the massive American power-house went faster than you? Trust me, you went faster than ANY OF US could have done.  You are exceptional.

Life is not a competition, I know this.  And yet we are always bombarded by competition in the media - be it sporting as in the Olympics, or 'music' with the X-factor, or dancing dogs with Britains Got Talent.  It's all about who can do what best, or fastest, or least annoyingly in the case of the dancing dogs.  Because of the distinct lack of employment opportunities in this country at the moment, I am finding myself writing applications as "The Best Admin / Customer Service Superstar Extraordinaire Ever Known" in an attempt to stand out from the other 6,000 applicants for the same post.  More than ever I feel the need to have some extra special quality, something that I would win the gold medal for if it were an Olympic event.

So, thankyou Team GB for being so amazing, filling us all with pride and love for our little country on the international stage.  And good luck Paralympic Team GB I hope you win all the medals and royally stuff the Americans and the Chinese. But equally, can we all remember that its the taking part that counts?
K x