Olympic Dreams

I am Olympic obsessed.  Like, staying up way too late every night so that I'm crabby and irritable the entire next day obsessed.  I've always loved watching the Olympic games and I think one of the reasons why I'm so obsessed now is the nostalgia.  I have specific memories of past Olympic games.  I remember watching the Atlanta games gymnastics in the living room with my mom, I also remember being so excited to find out who won the women's figure skating in Nagano that I asked to use the bathroom pass during a high school class and snuck to the library to use their internet.  This was back in the dial up days where it would take FOREVER to download a webpage.  BTW, it was Tara Lipinski who beat out Michelle Kwan.

I know a lot of people dream of winning Olympic gold, but I've always dreamed of winning Olympic silver.  I aim high, folks.

I just have always thought that the silver medal is much prettier than all of the other medals and on the podium it really stands out.  The gold and the bronze medal look so similar that you can barely tell them apart from afar.  Plus, I prefer silver jewelry and if I were ever to win an Olympic medal, I'd totally be wearing it as a necklace everyday.  So, silver wins.

This philosophy of mine is one of the reasons I could never be an Olympian.  I have no competitive spirit.  None.  Zero.  Zilch.  You want to be better than me at something?  I will actually step aside and allow it because silver medals really aren't that bad.

When I was a young girl, I played on our city softball league and I was actually decent.  I could hit better than most of the girls in the league and I was an alright catcher.  However, I really didn't enjoy the defensive side of the game and so when I wasn't playing catcher, I was usually put in right field.  Ten-year-old girls aren't very good at hitting into the outfield and, even if they did, the ball almost never makes it to right field.  So, I would drive my parents crazy by spending my right field days picking dandelions and dancing.  I really didn't care about keeping my head in the game, I just wanted to have fun.

This attitude further hindered me in law school where everyone was so focused on getting A's that they would give up every morsel of their spare time to do it.  Other students would spend hours going and talking to professors to get hints at what would be on the final.  They would also play a grand social game which included at least weekly happy hours, joining student clubs and hobnobbing with their mentor attorney.  The ones who were the best at it often times were rewarded with great jobs.  Then there was me.  I did well in law school classes receiving a few A's and A-'s, a lot of B+'s and a few B's and B-'s.  I also worked through the majority of law school both at law firms, legal editing companies and retail stores.  However, while others were spending their time out at social functions, I was at home studying and watching Friends. 

But, I'm happy.  So, that's the silver lining.