Olympics? No Thanks

So the Olympics have come and gone, and won't return for another four years. Frankly, I couldn't care less. I'm not here to bash the Olympics, not intentionally anyway. I just wanted to write, and since the Olympics flooded the news for weeks, it popped in my head as something relevant to write about.

I didn't even know the Olympics were going until I visited my mother one weekend to find it playing on tv. I didn't have a television at my place at the time, but soon thereafter I started noticing more and more of the news based sites I visit covering almost nothing but Olympic stories.

I personally don't care to pay any attention to the Olympics, obviously; the reasons being very similar to why I don't affiliate myself with any sports period. I admit they're entertaining to watch from time to time, and I'm sure that's the main reason most people watch them, but there are many things that deter my attention.

One of the biggest reasons is: I am not concerned with who is the best. After watching some of the Olympics this year and observing some of the winners and losers responses, I can't really understand their joy or disappointment. Some of the Olympians are quoted and noted for striving off the rush and satisfaction they get from defeating the competition and being on top. On the other hand, the ones who didn't happen to come out on top are left defeated and disappointed.

Now I can't speak for anyone else, but what I'm most interested in is personal growth. How far can I push myself? In a world where everyone is different, what's the point in comparing each other? I admit that competition pushes everyone to be better individually, but where does this satisfaction or disappointment come from if we are all built differently biologically and have different abilities when we are compared to others?

I'm not sure. This sort of perspective applies to more things than just sports, but I won't get into that now.