New Kind of Olympiad?

The Olympics are over yet still fresh enough for us to be reflective. It’s impossible not to be impressed by the feats one witnessed, by the records that were set, by the achievements of the human body doing things that weren’t thought possible. Each time a record is set, the bar is that much higher, and the challenge that much keener for the next group of athletes. A Los Angeles Times op-ed by Chris Berdik cites research that there may come a time when the human body will have reached its limits and no more records will be set. He suggests that regardless, he for one, will still want to watch the games. I suggest that that will be the time to begin setting new kind of rules, games even. The Olympics highlight physical prowess, but what of our emotional stamina, our psychological endurance, our practice of higher values, our inner essence whether or not we think of it as spiritual. Being human is more than our physical manifestation, it is also our ability to link our inner and outer selves, our capacity for cooperation, self forgetfulness, our needs to go beyond our ego, our capability to include the abstract aspects of who we are. Couldn’t there be games that include a way showing how these can and do prevail, a way to better represent what it means to be human?