Reflections (7) – Short Notes (Part 3)

Lance Armstrong

I was one of those who believed that he did not cheat his way to success. Think of it: How would a man who beat cancer and shone against all odds be a cheater in sports. Well, surprise surprise, as he admitted eventually at the Oprah Winfrey’s interview, he doped and cheated in all of his 7 Tour de France wins. Maybe, just maybe, he could have won without cheating. But now, we will never know. He will never know. Sometimes in life, we have great opportunities to prove our true worth; to gain the refreshing satisfaction of working hard and achieving honest and well-deserved success without cheating or cutting corners. If we miss that opportunity of showing what we truly are and what we can really achieve, we would have missed an enormous opportunity: we will never know if we could have done it on our own natural abilities. What ignorance!

The Bolt Phenomenon!

William Shakespeare wrote in the Twelfth Night:

“Be not afraid of greatness:
Some are born great,
Some achieve greatness and
Some have greatness thrust upon them.”

Borrowing from such words of greatness,
I humbly submit:

“While many achieve greatness,
A few define or redefine what greatness is!”

Usain St. Leo Bolt is a sterling example of those who’ve redefined what greatness is. The typical
100 metres sprinter is of average height and stout built. Tall, lanky Bolt does not fit the profile. Yet with a height of 1.95 metres (6 feet 5 inches) and slim built, Bolt defied the odds and rewrote the science of athletics in becoming the fastest man alive. Like the Brazilian Ronaldo de Lima in the heyday of his football career, Bolt is nothing but a phenomenon that is still unraveling. Kudos to a legend extraordinaire!

On a side note, let me say this: ‘I’m not remembered because I did everything right. I’m remembered because I did not allow the fear of being wrong or the fears of failure deter me from doing what I thought was right.’