Strange Inspiration

 Everyone wants to be a winner. And Canadians, the proverbial polite 2nd placers have won in Alexandre Bilodeau's gold medal in Men's Moguls....tonight on Canadian soil ! Congrats ALEX. Even though Alex is a virtual stranger, he has the power to affect us  - the synergy of life...

My son Ezra and I witnessed this moment - when Alex triumphed on the hill and the crowds, red mittened and Canadian flagged went wild Wild WILD!! We were screaming from the couch and going on... then I heard nothing from his little corner....and there Ezra was, crying, tears streaming down his face, tears of joy!

 ---I want a t-shirt that says that Canada won the gold , that Alex won us the gold , sniffs Ezra.

---hmm, great idea, i guess you wouldn't want to wear that t-shirt when we go across the border to Florida next month, i say...

---Nope! I will hide it under my hoodie says Ezra.
---So, says Ezra, later to my husband - can you do two sports for the Olympics?  Sure, you can do...
---OK then, I will do Hockey AND Snowboarding...says Ezra, deciding his Olympic future.

Robert smiles. Ezra enjoys sports, but may not be, well, podium-material - but he seems to draw on these Olympics as a font of confidence, that he too can be like Alex and make his family proud! We won't let the reality-bomb fall just yet...but maybe we can encourage him to use this inspiration to complete his homework in RECORD TIME!

Ezra was bedazzled. I remember being inspired by the Olympic triumph over tribulation stories when i was young. I got so much energy from that  - do you remember that when you were young? It gave me wings, for a bit - I would bike harder down the road and imagine being in a race, or I would "ski" down the hill that was our front yard, the imaginary roaring of the crowds in my ears. But soon the olympic stories would die away, replaced by the daily hum of ordinary, and the wings would go packing.

But at the right moment, sometimes inspiration can take you places, give you that nudge over the hill...

I won a wee wittle medal myself. A BLOG NOD.  Awarded sometime today  - the sunshine award from Kathy Jenkins at www.lessonsfromthemonkimarried.blogspot.com. Kathy's life is an inspiration to me, though she is virtually a stranger. She is one who, when emerging through dark waters, reaches back with her hand and pulls up another. In this case, it was me  - a water-logged writer needing a boat with a jacuzzi and a view of the stars - Thank-you Kathy, um, can i keep the boat?

In a few posts, I will come up with an award for my faves...and pass along the encouragement  - strangers I strangely like, strangers I do not find strange.