Science Olympiad

Olympic Activities occur every four decades. Enjoyment gets worse whenever we look ahead for such significant globally occasion. What with regional press drum-beating it, such as some TV applications providing more appropriate Olympic warm-up applications. And then, there are the regrettable drug-related problems that saw some of past winners being disqualified from competitive. There are also sportsmen hurting themselves from exercising before Olympic games contests. All these and other dramas unfolding before an Olympic Activities countdown comes nearer.

I would like to turn my thoughts on these Olympiads, the champions, the winners who take all. Perhaps by focusing on some of their key characteristics, their attitudes that set them apart from the rest, we might gain valuable insights that we can take advantage of in our ordinary lives. Sometimes to us expectators it looks like the games are pure excitement and fun as we concentrate on the sporting success, but what we sometimes overlook is the incredible fighting spirit that these champions possess.

Just what are these traits and attitudes that set them apart? What make them get there? Here are some of them that come to my mind:

Resilience. They never give up.

Despite personal problems that could destruct them from regular rigorous training, they nevertheless manage to put in their best performances. They refuse to be deterred by a major setback – be it family crisis, a broken heart or an injury. Rather than see things from a negative point of view, champions learn to react in ways that are going to help them achieve. What they clearly demonstrate is more of attitude along with their ability.

Courage. They see themselves as their prime competitor. They have the guts to focus on the tough and difficult.

As a matter of course, sportspeople compete against each other, but for champions the ultimate competition comes from within. They always believe that they can better themselves. This kind of determination comes down to taking immense pride in what they do. Clearly, champions don’t judge themselves by another’s standard. Simply, it’s all how they are performing.

Responsible. They are not afraid to work hard.

Champions know there’s no substitute for good, old-fashioned hard work. They are not one to be deterred, but they battle on through sheer exertion and turmoil. This ability to dig dip is their driving quality

Open-mindedness. They are always looking for the next challenge.

There are instances that after all the strict and disciplined training, they miss out on the winning. They are never fazed to rest on their laurels. Rather, they work again and again to improve their fitness, then prepare for the next challenge. Champions never feel they are done; some of them despite the fact that they are already at the top of their sporting career. They are always looking for new ways to perform better.

Having mentioned some of these key attributes, the same can be said that they are common characteristics to leaders and successful people in every other fields or disciplines – business, artistic, academic or any other pursuit. As in sport, life can present devastating situations – whether it’s being made redundant at work, unhappy relationships, losing money in business, or a family crisis. Instead of feeling hopeless and utterly dejected, we can pick up some tips from these champions, develop a winner’s attitude to help us what we want out of life.

We definitely can learn from the attitudes of champions

Pro-independence demonstrations tagging the 49th birthday of the April 10, 1959 rebel against China concept have built over from Tibet into Tibetan areas in three nearby regions this few days, even as China regulators launched on a serious protection attack in the awaken of week long anti-Chinese assault. Similar to activities this past fall in Myanmar, the demonstrations were originally stimulated and led by Buddhist priests. Afraid that activities might quickly get out of hand, China regulators have turned to implementing plainclothes protection agents clothed as priests to be able to integrate and cut short any potential demonstrations. Alleged members in the demonstrations have been trucked handcuffed through the roads of the capital, Lhasa, as speakers purchase anyone involved in the recent assault to give up to regulators instantly or face serious penalties should they not conform. In reaction, the Dalai Lama, the religious innovator of Tibet in exile in Indian since the 1959 rebellion, has criticized the attack and the China national policy of motivating cultural China migration into the questionable Himalayan heartland as “cultural genocide”. All of this performs out against the background of the upcoming Summer Olympic Games in China and features the duality of the Rat’s character in the China astrology.

Given the propensity for the Rat to bring chaos, conflict and even death, one wonders why the Chinese would choose to host the Olympics during such a potentially volatile and tumultuous year. The answer lies in the Rat’s resourceful nature and the prosperity that often accompanies it. At the heart of the Rat’s nature is change. It is adaptive and steadfast in its labors. As we all know, change is a two-sided coin and the Rat is one given to extremes. Accordingly, while there is potentially great gains and profits to be made during the year of the Rat, there is also the potential for great calamity and chaos. In light of the ongoing troubles in Tibet and the series of crippling blizzards that brought large parts of the country to a frozen standstill over the recent lunar New Year, it appears as if the negative aspects of the Rat’s personality rule the day.

While officials in Beijing feared potential conflict with Taiwan casting a pall over this year’s Olympics, it has been matters on the mainland that have created nightmares for the image-obsessed Chinese government. As the Rat swept in on the tail of a series of blizzards, coal shortages and the suspension of rail service in several southern provinces impacted millions with hundreds of thousands stranded in railway stations for days as cities were racked by recurring electrical brownouts and sporadic blackouts. Trying to prevent the troubled province from sparking wider political unrest and upheaval, Chinese authorities find themselves walking a fine line in Tibet. Though the natural tendency is to respond in overwhelming and oppressive fashion, Beijing fears a potential international backlash that would tarnish China’s debutant introduction at the upcoming Summer Games. Both cases directly call into question the foundations of the Communist Party’s legitimacy, the maintenance of public security and services as well as its ability to provide uninterrupted economic growth.

Having cast their lot with the authoritarian Communist government, the International Olympic Committee has attacked the idea of a boycott of the Beijing games as “penalizing innocent athletes” even as it issued a statement calling for “peaceful resolution to the tensions…” in Tibet. This comes after the recent resignation of Steven Spielberg as a creative advisor to the opening and closing ceremonies of the games over China’s continuing involvement in Sudan and its stonewalling on the crisis in the African state’s Darfur region. Clearly human rights activists plan to seize the spotlight of the Games to highlight China’s humanitarian and political record both domestically and abroad.

Given the increased media exposure, a growing awareness of it’s domestic and foreign policies and the need to maintain domestic political stability, the question is what will be the ultimate impact on China’s international image and the success of the Beijing games? Will action in Tibet tarnish the luster and draw of the upcoming games, resulting in smaller crowds, diminished ticket sales and low television ratings? Or will the throngs of international tourists be spectators to baton-wielding riot police in addition to medal-pursuing athletes? Are the games destined to join the infamous 1936 Berlin Olympiad as nothing more than a glossy commercial and gaudy window dressing for an otherwise insular and oppressive regime? As the clock winds down to the opening of the games, Beijing anxiously hopes the benevolent side of the Rat’s personality will be in attendance as the “new” China makes its debut on the world stage.

Full-time governmental bureaucrat, part-time Professor of Political Science, occasional political consultant, avid defender of smoker’s rights and lifetime politico and purveyor of common sense. Bringing a lifetime of practical, hard won political common sense and analysis to a world yearning to cut through the spin and understand just what the hell’s going on.