Team USA: The power of unity

I am a huge fan of the Olympics! (I favor the Winter Olympics, but it’s all awesome!)

When the 2010 Winter Olympics were in nearby Vancouver, Canada, my sister, boys and I hopped over and attended a few events. The feeling of a world unified by something is so powerful. Let me tell you, you felt that love. It makes me wish there were Olympic games annually.

The kick off of the 2018 Winter Games tonight has me considering the whole concept of unity and being a team. What creates the movement where a team becomes unified? What drives them to pull together to win?

If you are a Kansas Citian, you know the feeling from our hometown team, the Royals. When they came together to win the World Series, it was palpable around town. There was no denying the unity of the team, and as a result, the town. (Unity is contagious… what we call good energy!) We saw the same thing Sunday night when the power of team and focus came through during post-game interviews with the Philadelphia Eagles. (Did anyone else catch the local shout out to the Blue Valley Tigers that won the Kansas state title this fall? Another example of unity! I attended a preseason golf tournament and you could feel it even then. I believe that team unity doesn’t happen over night. I had nothing to do really with this team, but still felt their energy and excitement. That’s the power of unity.)

When the athletes take the field tonight, I hope that you notice that unity is alive and well, and has been since the beginning of the modern day games in 1896. (Fun fact: They first started as a pagan religious festival in 776 in Greece, but after a 393 hiatus, regrouped to what we know today as the Olympic games.)

The Olympics as a movement has three main parts, according to reference.com. They include the International Olympic Committee, The International Federations and the National Olympic Committees. The three work together to:

• PROMOTE PEACE
• ENCOURAGE PEACE AMONG YOUNG ATHLETES

Sports help athletes engage on the field without discrimination, the reference goes on to say. Forming friendships and practicing fair play are the cornerstones of the events. I love all of that, don’t you?

As we go into the next few weeks watching the big events, I hope this resonates with you and you think about how we should all strive for this type of effort. As the athletes showcase, it takes work, discipline and often a mind-over-matter approach to the sport or, in this case, the game of life.

We can be unified as a country. We can reveal friendships. We can become a strong, cohesive unit. As a family, a community and a country. I believe in TEAM USA!