Olympic Dreams

"Maybe there is a god above/But all I've ever learned from love/Was how to shoot at someone who outdrew you."

My favorite lyrics from  Leonard Cohen's 'Hallelujah' which K.D. Lang just rocked to wrap up the 2010 Winter Games Opening Ceremonies.  Not that the song isn't always incredibly moving, but there is something about the Olympics that I just love, and it made the rendition awesome.  I actually really enjoyed this ceremony...some great musical and dancing performances.  Good job Canada.  I liked it better than what China did.  Especially since China was faking it half time.  


The Olympics remind me of when I was a kid.  Whether I was "ice skating" with my rollerblades on the kitchen floor (the only time my mom would let me do so) or performing a balance beam routine on the back of the couch, I always wanted to be an Olympian.  My parents always tell me how as a very small child I would stand and salute as soon as the familiar Olympic theme music played on the TV.  As I got older, I realized I would never be a world class athlete and gave up on my Olympic dreams.  And looking back, it makes me think of all the other dreams I used to have that I've given up.


Today when I saw the horrific video of Georgian luger Nodar Kumaritashvili's fatal race down the track I thought about just how much some people give up to achieve their dreams.  This 21-year old boy came from a war torn nation to compete as the 40-something ranked athlete in his sport, and these Olympics were likely the proudest moment of his life.  Then just like that, everything was taken away.   


It truly made me think, what if the worst happened for me tomorrow?  Would I have accomplished enough of my dreams?  It's true, I did finally make the move to DC like I've wanted for almost three years now.  But I still haven't found a paying job, and haven't met that many people yet, so I haven't really begun to carve out a new life for myself.  I think with just a little more effort and sacrifice I could do so.  


Just thinking about where I was last time there was an Olympic opening ceremony, it's true I have grown a lot.  So much has changed in my outlook on life and the way I go about living it...definitely for the better.  So perhaps I'm on the right path.  After all, life is really about timing, and I just need to give things some more time.  After all, at 23, I'm a baby in this city (minus all the interns who still get to be college students).