Sunday, February 28th was a great reminder to me on how important hope and hard work really are in life. I went to the Olympic men’s gold medal hockey game, and WOW, what a game it was! The energy and excitement in the air were fantastic, each country fighting for the prized gold medal to cap off a fantastic winter games.
I sat on the edge of my seat most of the game, cheering loudly with my fellow Canadians. We cheered and sang when we were up 2-0. We hooted and hollered when it was 2-1. When the U.S. tied the game 2-2 I looked up at the clock and couldn’t believe it, 24.5 seconds. REALLY?!! 24.5 seconds was all that was left in regulation play? It was shocking. The U.S. fans in the arena exploded into cheers in an almost deafening way, they had a chance, the game wasn’t over. What happened next was truly amazing. The Canadian fans fought back… We started chanting “GO CANADA GO” drowning out the American fans. And, we kept it going.
When the puck dropped in overtime, we cheered, yelled and willed Canada to win, and the players responded. We hadn’t given up and neither did they! If the fans hadn’t kept cheering, kept BELIEVING (as was the motto for Canada during the Games!) and the players working as hard as they could, we would have had a different outcome.
One would not be enough without the other. Hard work without belief in yourself, in your goals, in your dreams will be lost when things get tough. When there is only 24.5 seconds left and the other team scores, you need to believe you can do it. Belief without work will fail, you have to be willing to put the effort in, no matter what has happened in the past.
Thank you to the Canadian Men’s hockey team for reminding me how to follow my dreams. Now, what dreams require work AND belief for you to succeed?
I sat on the edge of my seat most of the game, cheering loudly with my fellow Canadians. We cheered and sang when we were up 2-0. We hooted and hollered when it was 2-1. When the U.S. tied the game 2-2 I looked up at the clock and couldn’t believe it, 24.5 seconds. REALLY?!! 24.5 seconds was all that was left in regulation play? It was shocking. The U.S. fans in the arena exploded into cheers in an almost deafening way, they had a chance, the game wasn’t over. What happened next was truly amazing. The Canadian fans fought back… We started chanting “GO CANADA GO” drowning out the American fans. And, we kept it going.
When the puck dropped in overtime, we cheered, yelled and willed Canada to win, and the players responded. We hadn’t given up and neither did they! If the fans hadn’t kept cheering, kept BELIEVING (as was the motto for Canada during the Games!) and the players working as hard as they could, we would have had a different outcome.
One would not be enough without the other. Hard work without belief in yourself, in your goals, in your dreams will be lost when things get tough. When there is only 24.5 seconds left and the other team scores, you need to believe you can do it. Belief without work will fail, you have to be willing to put the effort in, no matter what has happened in the past.
Thank you to the Canadian Men’s hockey team for reminding me how to follow my dreams. Now, what dreams require work AND belief for you to succeed?