The Parallel Heroes

Author: Gary Ratson

March 5, 2010

Gary Ratson`s E-Take is sponsored by Immunocal, the elite athlete nutritional supplement for muscular performance since 1996.

The first Paralympic torch relay began this week, also the first year that the Parallel Games will be televised nationally.  Almost one thousand athletes from 44 countries competing, it is only since 1988 that the games have been held at the same venue and time as the Olympics.  It is long overdue to dramatically increase the public awareness of these amazing athletes and their phenomenal stories.

I had the opportunity recently to get to know some of the past and present paralympic athletes while writing the introduction and editing the athletes bios for a photo essay to be published by a photographer/engineer friend of mine in Vancouver, BC.

I saw how these athlete’s motivation is that much closer to the original Olympic ideals.  Less tainted by commercial and material success, the Paralympians present a pure determination and a win-win attitude.  Without the creeping of professional sport they maintain the amateur excellence true to the Olympic spirit.  It seems obvious that the source of pride of these athletes exhibit serves to uplift the world in a way that the Olympic games cannot.  Not that it’s a competition.

The first Paralympic games were held in 1960 in Rome with 400 athletes from 23 countries.  They can be traced back to 1948 International Wheelchair Games organized by Dr. Ludwig Guttman, an advocate of using sport therapy to enhance the quality of lives for war veterans to encourage ssportsmanship, camaraderie, and an active lifestyle.  The Summer and Winter Paralympic Games are the ultimate international competitions for world class athletes with a disability and are growing every year.

These athletes with loss of limb or function through injury or birth face similar financial, social, competitive hardships as Olympic athletes.  Then they also contend with vagaries of public perception, inequality, inconvenience, technical and equipment expenses and medical issues.

Beyond that, the paralympians have confronted fundamental human issues of life and death and the meaning of life.  This is where they exemplify the life lessons that everyone is eventually forced to face.  These Paralympic games symbolize human struggle to embrace our spiritual nature by transcending the limits of mind and body.

The forced challenge of extreme physical limitation becomes a blessing when faced with courage and radical honesty.  With dedication to finding opportunity in tragedy, new appreciation of life’s beauty, and making a valuable contribution, elite competition then becomes a genuine spiritual journey.  Only by pushing limits of the personal sense of self does one emerge with the recognition of one’s true identity as a person.

Overcoming fear is something that we all avoid as much as possible until we are forced.  Confronted with possible death, life without limbs, and critical life choices, the paralympic athletes come to their sport with an inner strength that transcends elite athleticism.  Only this kind of grounded fearlessness allows the creativity necessary to excel as Paralympian.

But it is humility, the kind resulting from surrendering the pride and attitude of self-serving ego, that invites the pure joy of elite participation.  Realizing that you do not have control of everything that happens in life, how you respond to life becomes a living principle.  The win-lose mentality gives way to reaching for the highest good, dedication to the competitive spirit within, allowing the essence of genius to emerge.

Finally, a gratitude for all life experience develops, the value of using time wisely, as the present moment becomes the only reality.  These are the life lessons of meaning, hope and healing that lie beyond traditional views of self and world.  It calls for surrendering attachments to limiting beliefs about self, destiny, and possibilities.  Allowing the source of individual truth to shine through as unique capabilities is the ‘method of operation’ of the Paralympic athlete.

As the Olympic games leaves the host city with really cool venues and infrastructure, the Paralympics inspire accessible venues everywhere, stimulate research into high tech equipment that trickles down to everyone, and increase awareness and acceptance for people of all abilities.  More than the Olympic games, the Paralympic games are a vital social and cultural exemplar for overall human advancement.  These Paralympic athletes are the real heroes that inspire all of us to get over ourselves, dispense with the non-essentials, and enliven our fitness with a higher purpose.

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