Welcome back to Term 2. Like many of you, I was privileged to witness some very talented athletes performing at the recent Commonwealth Games. Each athlete regardless of where he or she finished in the rankings deserves recognition for the many, many thousands of hours of hard work taken to get there. Almost without exception, they thanked their families (along with their coaches) for their unrelenting support over many years.
A couple of athletes stood out in particular for me. They participated in the sight-impaired 100m race. An African man, Miguel Francisco of Angola, ran with a guide as he was completely blind. It set me to thinking about some of the obstacles that man may have had to overcome to get there. During his childhood years, I wondered if his family and friends might have tried to discourage him from running. Did he hear people say, “You can’t do that, you need to be able to see to run. Why not try something easier and less risky?” Did he ever tell himself that he couldn’t be a runner? As parents, do we encourage or discourage our children when they want to try things where there’s a high probability of difficulty or even failure?
That young man was linked to his guide by a short rubber rope. The guide helped him get set for the race, ensuring that his hands and feet were within the lane before starting. He had to let the athlete know when they passed certain points in the race; that he stayed in his lane; how far he had to go; call out any potential obstacles; not get ahead of his runner as well as adjusting his stride to match that of the athlete so they didn’t get their arms tangled and fall. The pair would have trained together and the guide was an athlete who could run as fast as his runner. I imagine they would have had many stumbles and falls during their training sessions. The guide’s presence enabled the runner to participate fully in the race. There are times when we may need to accept help and support from others and there’s nothing wrong with that. By the same token, there are times when we can walk alongside others and be supportive.
Events like the games are often a great opportunity for us to get our children involved in physical activity. Our bodies are made to move and doing so contributes to both our physical and emotional well-being. They also provide opportunity to show our children some of the benefits of hard work and persevering, even when the going gets tough.
