Imagine... being an Olympian

A week ago, my friends and I were returning from a baseball game determined to catch the final US men's relay race. Realizing we were going to miss the race, we made an impulse decision to jump-off a Washington DC metro 5 stops early and sprint through Ronald Reagan International airport! Finding the only TV available in the entire airport we begged the restaurant to stay open. The disgruntled man fixing the kitchen oven told us that the restaurant was closed while pulling down the metal security grate, mercifully, leaving the TV on.

The race began, and we strained to see through the 5-inch metallic peep hole praying Phelps would win and make history. Travelers paused to see the cause of the commotion and knowingly said, "Oh, it's the Olympics! Phelps is swimming!" That's all it took to explain why two sweaty Air Force officers, an unemployed college grad, an employee of the CIA, an Amish couple, and a handyman stood together their eyes glued to the TV.

It was in that moment, I discovered why I’d teared-up during the opening ceremony just weeks before, yelled obscenities about the injustice of Nastia's vault score, and was ready to deck THAT guy if he turned the TV off during the men's relay. American Olympians represent more than just America, they represent us all, that colorful fabric of humanity and the understanding that as global citizens were are more alike than different.

There is also a second and perhaps greater message for the youth of today. As one, who grew up watching the Olympics in 2000 because the women's gymnastic team was comprise of girls my age, and then continued to watch when 19-year old Michael (also my age) started winning golds, and then again in 2008 where Phelps has broken historic records. To We the Future the message is the clear: if you unashamedly, and with determination chase your dream, no goal and no record is too large when fueled by hope. Even that crazy idea about world peace.

*wrote this in hopes that Oprah will let me come on her show