Inspiring Olympians

I was so pleased today to pick up my copy of Zest magazine  and see the beautiful athlete Jessica Ennis on the front cover (yes I know this pic is from Marie Claire, she's everywhere!).  I find Zest's health chat inspiring enough but their inclusion of Jess pushed it to a whole new level.  This got me thinking...

I know the Olympics is supposedly going to do wonders for our economy, for our capital and for our country but how else could it benefit us everyday people?  My conclusion: inspiration.  What is an Olympian?  They are not just 'sports people': they push themselves to their limits, and then they do it some more.  They strive, everyday, to make themselves better.  They dedicate every aspect of their lives, their diets, their time, their bodies, to the achievement of their goal.

We might not be sports people, but can we not all learn something from our Olympic athletes?  I don't just mean from a physical perspective but I will stick with the theme to illustrate my point.  Very recently, due to various happenings, I have become increasingly aware of the potential frailty of the human condition.  It has served to remind me (and forgive the old cliché) that we should be grateful for what we have.  I am blessed with four fully functioning limbs, and a system of internal organs in fully working order, and I think I have a duty to look after that.  We actually have the potential to push our bodies to the limits that Olympians do!  Of course, we might choose to dedicate our lives to other things, but that doesn't mean that the same concepts can't exist in these other areas to reach our absolute potential.  Certainly the same thing can be applied to our minds, to our family lives, to our talents etc etc.  'Use it or lose it' suddenly springs to mind!

Another thing that occurred to me looking at Jess Ennis, is the role model she is in terms of society's obsession with the body beautiful!  What is the body beautiful?  Surely it is a body that has reached it's full potential in terms of health and ability: Jess Ennis's body!  Now I'm not advocating we all train to be a heptathlete, or spend a furious 2 hours a day on the treadmill and the Smith Machine, but I do hope the beautiful healthy bodies that will be photographed and splashed all over the media during the Olympics will serve as some inspiration, especially to the younger generation who are bombarded with images of very slim fashion models.  Perhaps the Olympians will help them to understand that there are many different body types, and that a healthy body, however it looks, is an enviable one.

Gold medals all round I think!!!