It's All Over But the Party

Tonight, the Olympics come to an end. I have enjoyed watching the athletes and listening to their stories as happy or sad, as they may be. Though while watching the Olympics, I lost a lot of sleep, for me, it was all worth it. In fact, I woke up today a little after 6 am to watch the running of the men's marathon. Normally I would sleep in until 8:30 or 9 am. Not today. The marathon is one of those events dating back to the original games. Who could run the farthest and how fast. It was a great race with an Ugandan runner taking the lead with about 3 miles to go and never relinquishing it. It seems that the past Kenyan dominance in the middle and long distance races has come to an end.....for now. A pleasant surprise was the American marathoner, Meb Keflezighi, who finished 4th. Not a bad run or finish!  Kudos!

But with the end of the Olympics, comes the realization that life as we mortal human beings understand, goes back to normal. No more late nights. No more "spoiler alerts" about who won Olympic events, etc. Life does seem to get a little boring when the world stage is no longer on television and we are shut off into our own little worlds again.  How sad. How can we keep this "Olympic spirit" alive you might ask?

I haven't the slightest idea. Having studied international affairs, I have a better understanding about what is going on in the world. In some respects, better than most people my wife and I know or work with. (I will say though that my co-workers are more knowledgeable than where my wife works.) It is a sad fact that many Americans are oblivious to the world outside their four walls. They simply do not understand that the world is a much bigger place and more connected than it was even five years ago. Travel, communications, and business are done at almost a lightening speed compared to 40 or 50 years ago. SO why are we still so ignorant of the world?

Maybe it's because we just don't care. We are so involved in our own daily lives that we do not take a few moments to read or watch the news. We don't feel anything for anyone outside our own personal bubble. If children are starving in some far off land (or even in the US) and we don't see or hear about it, we don't care. In other words, we are not aware of our surroundings, be they locally, statewide, nationally or internationally. We as Americans have lost our edge. We need to get it back. The only way for this to happen is to become more involved in the world. Keep up with what is happening. Give a damn about Syria and South Sudan. Just give a damn about something other than yourselves.

I've lamented enough. It's Sunday and I have a few chores to attend to. Thanks for reading.

Have an awesome week!  :-)