Fighting the “Too”
By: Geo (August 23rd, 2008)
Usain Bolt is “too” tall to be a world class sprinter, Mike Friedman “too” fat to be an elite world class cyclist, Stefan Holm is “too” short to be a champion high jumper, and Erin Donohue is “too” short and stocky to be a star middle-distance runner. Yet all of them are Olympians, athletic anomlies, bucking conventional wisdom and somehow rising to the same arenas as Michael Phelps and Dara Torres.
Its amazing, how much man relies on statistics to make decisions, be it the vital or the numerical kind. But these wonderful people have attained that which has made experts revolve in their chairs and just confess, “It’s a mystery“!!
Exercise Science, a science I never knew existed, has been challenged and they are now trying to give logical explanations to these unusual feats. Usain Bolt’s leg muscle inserts very peculiarly into his bone! Holm runs faster and arches his body more to jump higher! Friedman compensates his odd body shape with odder movements in his cycling style! Pretty logical!!
Well, whether the experts find a way around it or not, many more sportmen, who don’t fit the standards will surely be looked at more seriously in the future. It is sad to think about those who never got a chance in the past because they didn’t fit the conclusions of statistics. Maybe the world missed a few stars who would have created better world records in the past. I hope, people will be considered strictly on the basis of their performance or even their potential, rather than how they look and how their body is!
I am not speaking against well toned muscular bodies and the desire to do so, but I am speaking against the attitude we carry wherein we tend to dismiss the non-conformists. When the world says, “Too this, too that”, it surely makes me want to fight and ask all non-conformists to fight.
There is more to a man than just his body. His ’spirit’ to fight and make it, is what gives an extra advantage to Bolt and Holm and Friedman. They don’t murmur about what they got, nor do they run away when the world says “No”, but they dig deeper and make full use of what they have and their body allows them to extract a physiological advantage which makes them champions! I mean, going by the experts’ logical explanations, Bolt never knew about his muscles that dug deeper, nor Holm about his body that arched more, nor Friedman about the odd style, but the ’spirit’ to not give up, but rather win, helped them extract that hidden, never-before-thought-about extra!!
I am reminded of a story that always encourages me. The story of a short man called Zacchaeus. It is an incident from the Bible. He was “too” short to be anything. A dwarf. But he fought and become the Chief Tax Collector in his district. One day Jesus came into his city, just for him. He was hated by everyone, but Jesus chose to stay in his house. Very soon, Zacchaeus’ life was changed. Heaven had noticed this fighter of the “too”.
If you are someone at the receiving end, I bring hope for you. Heaven’s eyes are trained on you. Moreover, you surely have some physiological attribute hidden in you, which will surface if you fight. So, FIGHT.
Tags: beijing olympics, Dara Torres, Erin Donohue, Michael Phelps, Mike Friedman, Stefan Holm, Usain Bolt
August 23rd, 2008 at 11:13 am
Fighting the too…Great blog ! When all the explanations of human mind end, there begins the infinite wisdom of God ! The work of his hands, his creation is ‘too marvelous’ to be dismissed by the ‘too brigade’ ! Find out your true potential !