MUSINGS and other writing by Mark Kolke

. . . . . . there is no edge to openness

TODAY'S MUSINGS

FEEDBACK / COMMENTS

MARK SPEAKS

MARK'S SPEAKING TIPS

ARCHIVED COLUMNS

ARCHIVE WINTER 2020-21

ARCHIVE AUTUMN 2020

ARCHIVE SUMMER 2020

ARCHIVE SPRING 2020

ARCHIVE WINTER 2019-20

ARCHIVE AUTUMN 2019

ARCHIVE SUMMER 2019

ARCHIVE SPRING 2019

ARCHIVE WINTER 2018-19

ARCHIVE AUTUMN 2018

ARCHIVE SUMMER 2018

ARCHIVE SPRING 2018

ARCHIVE WINTER 2017-18

ARCHIVE AUTUMN 2017

ARCHIVE SUMMER 2017

ARCHIVE SPRING 2017

ARCHIVE WINTER 2016/17

ARCHIVE AUTUMN 2016

ARCHIVE SUMMER 2016

ARCHIVE SPRING 2016

ARCHIVE WINTER 2015/16

ARCHIVE AUTUMN 2015

ARCHIVE SUMMER 2015

ARCHIVE SPRING 2015

ARCHIVE WINTER 2014/15

ARCHIVE AUTUMN 2014

ARCHIVE SUMMER 2014

ARCHIVE SPRING 2014

ARCHIVE WINTER 2013/14

CONTACT

MY REAL ESTATE LIFE

WHY I WRITE MUSINGS

SHORT STORY PROJECT

POETRY PROJECT

SELECTED OTHER WORK

 

GO CANADA
… we stand on guard for thee
Friday Feb. 21, 2014
 
 
So far I’ve avoided writing about these Winter Olympics in Sochi – in part because I didn’t want to be a fan of sports I don’t follow, I didn’t want to talk about Russian politics or rioting in the Ukraine but yesterday’s golden moments, especially for our women, cannot go unheralded so here I am!
Winning is wonderful. 
 
Losing sucks.
 
Sports, like everything in life, have fewer people taking 1st prize than we have people not taking 1st prize.
 
Focus on winning at the Olympic level is not for the faint of heart – which requires us to re-think what winning really means.  
 
We burst with pride when our country’s representatives own the podium and we wince for those who fall, falter or fail to be the best on finals day. We need to remember how great they all are – just to make the team, to compete for us on that world stage. But really, they aren’t competing for us. But we armchair athletes like to co-opt them as if they are ‘ours’, our team, as if we had anything to do with it . . . 
 
While most people would agree that a silver medal is awesome, it is easy to understand why some athletes would rather take bronze than ‘miss the gold’. So true yesterday for the U.S. Women’s Hockey Team, and the Swedish Women’s Curling Team. Such excellence, falling short because of a momentary mental lapse, a small error – moments that were magic for one side, and what will become a recurring nightmare for the others.
 
Like life. 
 
Sometimes we win big. 
 
Close - - -  only counts in horseshoes.
 
All the athletes, so many countries – awesome talent, best of the best at everything, performing at the top of their game, inspiring fans from every country to drop their jaws with amazement when Adelina Sotnikova’s free-skate vaulted her to a gold medal … awesome!
 
But, no … I’m writing about curling. 
 
As a rule, I find watching curling as exciting as watching paint dry.
 
Yesterdays’ GOLD in Women’s curling – wow what a tight game except for the Swede’s mistake in the 9th  end … go Canada! 
 
Then the women’s hockey Gold medal game – a nail-biter if ever there was one, to tie the game late in the 3rd period and then win it in overtime was spectacular, especially since they were so clearly outplayed for most of the game by the Americans. Oh well, gold to Canada. And freestyle ski cross – Canadian women coming away with gold AND silver medals … what a day!
 
There were other medals yesterday in other events – and great progress in other competitions where Canadians are doing well and remain medal hopefuls, but you can’t help but be pumped about yesterday’s performance by our Canadian women – winning medals in bobsleigh and skiing.
 
Current medal standings – show that Canada is in strong shape to, hopefully, meet or exceed its medal production from the 2010 games.
 
Day 14, 2 days to go. More skiing. More skating. More hockey. And more curling – our Canadian men are in a gold medal game today . . . underway right now! 
 
Go Canada.
 
Mark Kolke
198,904
column written/ published from Calgary
 
morning walk:  -8C / 18F, calm, good sprint – dashing between icy and dry spots in early dark/quiet, lit by a half-moon
 
Reader feedback / comments always welcome:
 
MANAGING LIFE
Greetings from South Africa. Thank you for your inspiring words. You are the reason that I am more keen each morning to see what the day holds for me. Keep doing what you do best, inspire and motivate us all, RS, Durban, South Africa .. P.S. .. Your work is so motivational and I don’t think you even have the slightest clue what a positive impact his has on me. Been through hell and back and  happy to say that I survived it and even  bought the shirt as well to prove it.

Sign up to get MUSINGS by Email
» click HERE to be added to our list!
For Email Marketing you can trust

MUSINGS
daily stirrings

 
read my posts on MEDIUM
 
read my posts on TWITTER 
 

 
quick link - to this season's ARCHIVED COLUMNS
 

 
quick link - to this year's DAILY QUOTES
 

 
quick link - to my weekly FACILITYCalgary newsletters
 

 
quick link - to my Linked in page
 

 
quick link - to my MaxComm business website
 

 
quick link - to my office leasing website
 

 
quick link - to my residential real estate services website
 

quick link - discussion of office leasing 
 

sign up to get Musings free daily


Comments are always welcome - please contribute to the discussion.  Reply to: kolke@markkolke.com

You can also connect with me on LinkedIn. This site is updated daily, each column is retained in the archive when the next day's column is loaded ...  


Copyright - all rights reserved - Mark Kolke, © 2003-2021