Tuesday, February 18, 2014

The Olympics - a different lesson?

Do you like to watch the Olympics?   I do!  I love watching the events but I don’t typically watch interviews of the athletes.  I just happened to catch an interview of one of the members of the U.S. Women’s bobsled team.   

I am concerned that we overemphasize individualism.    When individualism dominates it impedes our ability or desire to form or be part of “communities”.  These competing interests become out of balance.  Individualism run amuck can create an unhealthy self-love and turn our competitors into enemies.

This athlete said it better than I could. She prefers being a member of the bobsled team to being a solo track star.   As a solo track star the focus is all on you and you can become very narcissistic.  When you are a member of a team it is about the team and how you can contribute to make a better team. You are a part of something greater than yourself.