Uncommon Courage – Unexpected Joy

My son Matthew has been participating in Special Olympics for several years. He plays basketball and goes bowling but his favorite is track and field. Every year Special Olympics holds Area Games to bring athletes from our area together for their own Track Meet. Just like a local high school there are track and field events throughout the day. Just like the Olympics there are opening ceremonies, award ceremonies and an Olympic Village. The athletes are each assigned an escort who gets them to their events, takes them to the village and has lunch with them.

Last Saturday Matthew participated in his 3^rd Area Games and had a wonderful time. All of the athletes seemed to have a great time no matter how fast they ran, how far they jumped or how far they threw. It wasn’t about what place they got. There is something awe inspiring about watching an athlete run while waving to the cheering crowd. It’s not about winning, it’s about doing. It’s about saying, “I will do what I can do” and that is winning, that is success. That is joy.

At Special Olympics there are no strangers. There are no losers. There is simply - do your best and have fun. It’s all about giving the athletes a day all about them. Their day in the sun. It’s about giving them a moment of glory they might not otherwise have an opportunity to experience.

But throughout this amazing day there is something else happening. Something subtle but incredibly powerful. Volunteers and spectators are raised to a new level. We come to give something special to people who don’t get enough special in their lives. But what they give us is so much more. They give us their joy, their glory, their triumphs and everyone is blessed. And everyone is a winner.

The Special Olympians Oath goes like this: “Let me win. But if I cannot win, let me be brave in the attempt.” They are. These people who face challenges on a daily basis that would have most of us curled up in a corner sucking our thumbs, have courage that is beyond description. It must be experienced.

Hey – there’s an idea…go have some fun. Volunteer. For something, anything, just go give freely of yourself. Those you give to will never be the same – and neither will you.

My son Matthew at Special Olympics State Games in 2008

“I have spoken of a thousand points of light, of all the community organizations that are spread like stars throughout the Nation, doing good…The old ideas are new again because they are not old, they are timeless: duty, sacrifice, commitment, and a patriotism that finds its expression in taking part and pitching in.”

—George H. W. Bush, 1988

Popularity: 37% [?]

If you have any questions or suggestions, just click on Contact Me above and send me a message. I'd love to hear from you. Thanks for visiting!