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Athletes have an iron discipline. I admire them for that.
I myself get up every day at 5.30 a.m. and dutifully work out. I try to do this every day, but frankly it is sometimes quite hard.
Especially in the winter when it is still cold and dark.
And … when I get to bed too late, when I have too much work, when the dog wants to go outside (too) early, when we’re away from home, …I skip my workouts with relative ease and only a minuscule sting of guilt…
But real athletes don’t do that. They say no to all temptations because they want to reach their goal. ‘No’ to a party with friends, ‘no’ to delicious fries with fried meat, ‘no’ to a trip, ‘no’ to a lazy day on the couch, ‘no’ to skipping a training session, ‘no’ to…
And that kind of endurance deserves a sincere compliment.
Tip for today
Compliment an athlete on their perseverance.
The 5 most inspiring Olympic moments.
The last one (the runner Derek Redmond) tore his hamstring. He kept running, so he could finish. His dad ran out to see if he was okay and said “you don’t have to do this” . But Derek told him “Yes, I do”. So his dad said: “then we’ll do this together” . He walked with him until they were only a few feet away from the finish line ,where he let him go so he could complete his race. Although he was put down as “did not finish” because he was helped, he received a standing ovation from the crowd of over 65,000.