Great advice, Elad. Many are discouraged and disheartened right now. But I found this on another substack that encourages us to struggle on even if the battle seems lost. Sometimes losing is winning. That's the perspective of me, a new Christian subscriber looking for a Jewish perspective (my daughter in law is Jewish):
"I ran across an article by Gordon Morris in the LA Times from an event in the 1984 Olympic trials. I am going to copy the entire article because it spoke to me of this time in our history:
“It was nearly 9 o’clock last Friday night, and a damp coolness enveloped a virtually deserted Los Angeles Coliseum. A few people, mostly families and friends of the athletes, huddled in the stands. In the press box a smattering of weary reporters hunkered down over their note pads to watch the final event of the decathlon competition at the U.S. Olympic track and field trials.
“As in many decathlons, this would be decided by the final event, the 1500-meter run. And walking onto the field were 13 bone-tired men who had completed nine grueling events in just 18 hours. As they trudged slowly to the starting line, one of them -- Orville Peterson from Vero Beach, Fla. — lagged behind. After nine events, he was tied for 13th place. With a superb performance in the 1500 meters, he could possibly edge his way onto the three-man Olympic decathlon team.
“Yet something was wrong. As his fellow decathletes stretched and limbered up, Peterson stood off to one side, unmoving, staring up at the Coliseum’s bright lights.
“Finally the starter called the 13 athletes to the starting line. As Peterson stripped off his warm-up uniform, he revealed a massive bandage protecting a badly torn hamstring muscle, wrapped tightly around his left thigh. Nonetheless, he took his mark with the other 12. When the gun sounded, the field took off at a fast gait. Peterson — head down, limping noticeably — began a slow painful trot.
“At the 300-meter mark he was almost 100 meters behind the field. The gap grew with each stride. Still, head down, Peterson slowly limped around the track. Soon the field caught up to him, and one by one passed him. He took no notice. His limp worsening with each stride, he doggedly stayed on the track.
:”Finally the first finisher, John Crist, crossed the line with a time of 4 minutes 28 seconds. His time was worth 596 points. It made him the winner of the decathlon competition and a member of the Olympic team. The second runner crossed the line in 4:29.38; the third runner followed two seconds later. Finally Gary Kinder, in 12th place, finished his 1500-meter run in 5.01.39.
“Peterson still had two laps to go. As Crist and the others celebrated, Peterson, head down, limped around the track. When he came across the line to begin his last lap, a strange silence descended on the Coliseum. At once competitors, fans, officials and reporters realized that they were watching something very special. Applause broke out in every corner of the Coliseum. Peterson’s fellow decathletes shouted encouragement as he limped around the track.
“When Peterson entered the home stretch for the final time, the decathlon announcer,, Frank Zarnowski, a college dean from Maryland, caught the magic of the moment. With Peterson limping toward the finish line, Zarnowski’s voice, edged with emotion, filled the Coliseum with lines from an ancient Greek saying: ‘Ask not for victory, ask only for courage. In your pursuit, you bring honor to yourself. But more important, you bring honor to us all!’
“More than four minutes behind the 12th-place finisher, Peterson staggered across the line into the arms of his fellow decathletes. It would have been difficult to find a dry eye in the stadium. He received no points for his time of 9.44.80. He dropped into 32nd place in the final standings.
“Yet, for 10 stirring minutes, Orville Peterson was a champion — providing shining testimony that, through determined men and women like him, America’s long tradition of athletic excellence will never be in jeopardy.”
Great advice, Elad. Many are discouraged and disheartened right now. But I found this on another substack that encourages us to struggle on even if the battle seems lost. Sometimes losing is winning. That's the perspective of me, a new Christian subscriber looking for a Jewish perspective (my daughter in law is Jewish):
"I ran across an article by Gordon Morris in the LA Times from an event in the 1984 Olympic trials. I am going to copy the entire article because it spoke to me of this time in our history:
“It was nearly 9 o’clock last Friday night, and a damp coolness enveloped a virtually deserted Los Angeles Coliseum. A few people, mostly families and friends of the athletes, huddled in the stands. In the press box a smattering of weary reporters hunkered down over their note pads to watch the final event of the decathlon competition at the U.S. Olympic track and field trials.
“As in many decathlons, this would be decided by the final event, the 1500-meter run. And walking onto the field were 13 bone-tired men who had completed nine grueling events in just 18 hours. As they trudged slowly to the starting line, one of them -- Orville Peterson from Vero Beach, Fla. — lagged behind. After nine events, he was tied for 13th place. With a superb performance in the 1500 meters, he could possibly edge his way onto the three-man Olympic decathlon team.
“Yet something was wrong. As his fellow decathletes stretched and limbered up, Peterson stood off to one side, unmoving, staring up at the Coliseum’s bright lights.
“Finally the starter called the 13 athletes to the starting line. As Peterson stripped off his warm-up uniform, he revealed a massive bandage protecting a badly torn hamstring muscle, wrapped tightly around his left thigh. Nonetheless, he took his mark with the other 12. When the gun sounded, the field took off at a fast gait. Peterson — head down, limping noticeably — began a slow painful trot.
“At the 300-meter mark he was almost 100 meters behind the field. The gap grew with each stride. Still, head down, Peterson slowly limped around the track. Soon the field caught up to him, and one by one passed him. He took no notice. His limp worsening with each stride, he doggedly stayed on the track.
:”Finally the first finisher, John Crist, crossed the line with a time of 4 minutes 28 seconds. His time was worth 596 points. It made him the winner of the decathlon competition and a member of the Olympic team. The second runner crossed the line in 4:29.38; the third runner followed two seconds later. Finally Gary Kinder, in 12th place, finished his 1500-meter run in 5.01.39.
“Peterson still had two laps to go. As Crist and the others celebrated, Peterson, head down, limped around the track. When he came across the line to begin his last lap, a strange silence descended on the Coliseum. At once competitors, fans, officials and reporters realized that they were watching something very special. Applause broke out in every corner of the Coliseum. Peterson’s fellow decathletes shouted encouragement as he limped around the track.
“When Peterson entered the home stretch for the final time, the decathlon announcer,, Frank Zarnowski, a college dean from Maryland, caught the magic of the moment. With Peterson limping toward the finish line, Zarnowski’s voice, edged with emotion, filled the Coliseum with lines from an ancient Greek saying: ‘Ask not for victory, ask only for courage. In your pursuit, you bring honor to yourself. But more important, you bring honor to us all!’
“More than four minutes behind the 12th-place finisher, Peterson staggered across the line into the arms of his fellow decathletes. It would have been difficult to find a dry eye in the stadium. He received no points for his time of 9.44.80. He dropped into 32nd place in the final standings.
“Yet, for 10 stirring minutes, Orville Peterson was a champion — providing shining testimony that, through determined men and women like him, America’s long tradition of athletic excellence will never be in jeopardy.”