The Olympic Games

The Olympic Games are here!

It is a time when over 10,000 athletes will descend on Rio de Janeiro, Brazil to compete in a variety of events ranging from golf to basketball, from swimming to badminton.

Of course I was disappointed to find out that my last chance at the Olympics -- an event called The Elliptical -- will not be featured in the 2016 Summer Games.  It still will be pretty exciting to watch men and women push themselves to their limits.

Each of these athletes has put in thousands of hours of practice to train for their events.  Only one of those competitors will emerge with a gold medal and only three will win any medal at all.

It begs the question "What's the point?"  Why put in hours of grueling effort, only to finish sixteenth or twentieth in the world?

Something worth doing is worth doing, even if we can't be at the best at it.

It is easy to think about this in serving Christ and in showing love to the world around us, but there are plenty of other skills that are worth developing, even if we can't be number one in the world at them or, even stand out in them.

I think about this with regard to photography.  I don't take the greatest photos ever and certainly, there are plenty of photographers who have more knowledge and skill than I do.  When I set up my tripod and watch the sun rise above the still surface of the lake, I am aware that this isn't the first or even the hundredth image that has been made like this.

Still, I set my alarm early and struggle out to take photos at dawn and the Olympic athletes perform their sports as well as they can.  Because it isn't really important what others have done before, it is important what we can do today and can continue to do tomorrow.

Those skills, those memories we make today we will carry with us long past the time when most people have forgotten who won the long jump at the Rio Olympics.  That's plenty of reason to invest time in them today.  Regardless of where we finish, we can enjoy the journey to get there.