Olympic Freedom II

Remember I had talked about the more truth you know the more freedom you have, providing you have the skills and knowledge to handle the responsibility of those freedoms! Well, I hope to lay out a bit more truth. I did a little research on the Olympics, not much, but enough to maybe draw some interesting conclusions or at least for somebody to do more research. Maybe this could be a good project for a masters or doctorate student.

First, let me display some of the top medal winners, and allow me to throw in 3 characteristics. I sourced this data, other than medal count from http://www.cia.gov/. See the table below:

(I tried to import a table in this part of the blog, but the software does not allow me to, or at least, I don't know how to do it, so I will list the information the best way I can)

I will list the countries in order of medals won from the most to the least for the top 24 countries. The next number is their population, then a ratio of population to each medal won and finally, the country's Gross Domestic Production per capita (person).

1. United States, 11o medals, 303.8 million, 2.76 mill people/medal, with a GDP/cap of $46,000
2. China, 100 medals, 1330.0 mill, 13.30mill/medal, $5,300/pers
3. Russia, 73 medals, 140.7 mill, 1.93mill/medal, $14,700/pers
4. Great Britain, 48 medals, 60.9 mill, 1.27mill/medal, $35,100/pers
5. Australia, 46 medals, 20.6 mill, .45mill/medal, $36,300/pers
6. Germany, 42 medals, 82.4 mill, 1.96mill/medal, $34,200/pers
7. France, 40 medals, 64.1 mill, 1.60mill/medal, $33,200/pers
8. South Korea, 31 medals, 49.2 mill, 1.59mill/medal, $24,800/pers
9. Italy, 28 medals, 58.1 mill, 2.08 mill/medal, $30,400/pers
10. Ukraine, 28 medals, 46.0 mill, 1.64 mill/medal, $6,900/pers
11. Japan, 25 medals, 127.3 mill, 5.09 mill/medal, $33,600/pers
12. Cuba, 24 medals, 11.4 mill, .48 mill/medal, $4,500/pers
13. Belarus, 19 medals, 9.7 mill, .51 mill/medal, $10,900/pers
14. Canada, 18 medals, 33.2 mill, 1.84 mill/medal, $38,400/pers
15. Spain, 18 medals, 40.5 mill, 2.25 mill/medal, $30,100/pers
16. Netherlands, 16 medals, 16.6 mill, 1.04 mill/medal, $38,500/pers
17. Brazil, 15 medals, 191.9 mill, 12.79 mill/medal, $9,700/pers
18. Kenya, 14 medals, 38 mill, 2.71 mill/medal, $1,700/pers
19. Kazakhstan, 13 medals, 15.3 mill, 1.18mill/medal, $11,100/pers
20. Jamaica, 11 medals, 2.8 mill, .25mill/medal, $7,700/pers
21. Norway, 10 medals, 4.6 mill, .46mill/medal, $53,000/pers
22. Hungary, 10 medals, 9.9 mill, .99mill/medal, $19,000/pers
23. Poland, 10 medals, 38.5 mill, 3.85mill/medal, $16,300/pers
24. New Zealand, 9 medals, 4.2mill, .47mill/medal, $26,400/pers

The 3 other characteristics are population, gross domestic production (GDP) per person or capita and the number of medals per person or capita. This is very simple table, as I’m not a very good statistician (I only got 51% in statistics in college!). You’ll note that often a country with a large population received more medals. At least that seems right for the top 3 countries. However, what about Brazil? Japan? What about India? India only won 3 medals out of 1 billion people!

Let’s look at medals per person, the best country is Jamaica! Next are Australia, Norway, New Zealand and then Cuba. All of these countries are way ahead of the more populated ones.

I read various articles during my research and noticed that many writers were blaming their respective governments for lack of medal production. Blaming lack of infrastructure and financing mostly. And in the case of communist, fascist and/or socialist governments, that is probably true, seeing as they were elected or forced themselves in, having set them selves up as the only answer to their people. But what about free countries? Why is it that they win so many medals?

Norway is an interesting study. They have accumulated more Winter Olympic medals over the years than any other country in the world (see http://www.infoplease.com/) and they only have 4.6 million people! And they are second to Jamaica in the Summer Olympics in the medals per person category with one medal for every 460,000 people. Certainly their climate supports their winter efforts but what about Russia and Canada! Are their climates much different? Norway exports a lot of oil and that makes them quite a rich country for the number of people they have, is that what makes the difference? No, because look at Jamaica.

Jamaica cleaned up in the sprinting races this year. Their economy is no where near Norway’s, why do they do so well in sprinting? Is it the coaches? The athletes? The genetics? Their government? Jamaica doesn’t even compete in the Winter Olympics! (Except for bobsledding, in fact they train in Wisconsin!)

So what kinds of things might affect medal winnings? I list these in no specific order:

1. Geographical location of a country, namely the climate, certainly has an effect on the types of sports countries participate in particularly when it comes to winter sports versus summer sports.

2. Infrastructure of a country, namely transportation and communication systems, basic waste handling, food distribution, colleges with athletic facilities, communities with athletic facilities etc.

3. Religious culture, if certain religions want their members to focus on the ideals of their religion it may not foster participation in sports.

4. Economic factors, there is no doubt that sending athletes to the Olympics costs a lot of money, let alone the continual training that must take place.

5. Sports culture, some countries seem to love sports more than others, they will have a tradition of athletic participation and foster a belief of winning. The more medals they win, the more the belief they can continue to win. Many countries have schools and colleges that foster competitive sports, which promote semi-pro and professional leagues as well.

6. Government financial support, most countries rely on their governments to provide a considerable budget for their athletes, it ranges from 100% in cases like China and 0% in the case of US (the only known country that does not receive any money from government, I have only researched some of the top countries).

7. Government moral support, certain countries have a tradition of pride in various sports, or their leaders may love sports, thereby facilitating more athletic participation.

8. Genetics, at the risk of sounding “racist” (I hate that word, I’d prefer prejudiced or biased), I don’t have statistics on body types but it certainly appears that in certain parts of the world, for whatever reason, people can average taller, shorter, more or less athletic, a wide range of physical traits may be more prevalent than in one country than the other.

There are likely more factors I haven’t considered these are merely my observations. This subject could be the basis of some fascinating research. Having said all of the above, no matter what the outside factor may be, the main factor will always fall on the shoulders of the individual athlete.

It’s the individuals and the teams that say, “I(we) can do it, just show me(us) how, I’ll(we’ll) find the money, I’ll(we’ll) find the coach, and I’m (we’re) going to win!” Will an athlete make the necessary sacrifices in their personal lives to stick out the training day after day? Will they secure the necessary funding? Will they continue in spite of injuries, sickness and emotional turmoil? That’s what makes it work! What will he or she do to go to the end? Olympic Gold! Anyone who tries and gives it all they got, is an Olympic Champion in my books!

Olympic Freedom 1

I hope everyone had a chance to see some of the Olympic competitions. I love to watch the world’s best athletes compete and strive for the gold. Sports drama on the field, the court or in the gymnasium is much like our own lives. We must prepare for the game or battle (our responsibilities and freedoms), we must do our best to win the battle and prepare again if we didn’t win or if we want to continue to win. First let’s talk about preparation, can we become a doctor or lawyer if we don’t get an education? No, we have to prepare for that career with a professional degree. Can we be a good husband or wife without some type of preparation? I think many people think they don’t need to prepare, most will do what their parents did, which in many cases could be very good, but in some cases it is not. Can we be a good father or mother without preparation? I think we know the answer; the more preparation the better, right?

Secondly, winning the battle, do we have a battle to fight in our professions, relationships, and responsibilities? What does it mean to win in these things? I believe winning means improvement. Is your marriage improving? Are your relationships improving? Are you better at handling your responsibilities?

Thirdly, if these things are not improving or if you are losing, what are you doing to prepare better to improve these things? Are you reading books? Are you attending seminars in your area of interest? Are you listening to teachers in your area of interest in relationships, professions and other responsibilities? This is what athletes who are determined to win will do in their area of sports expertise.

Most athletes don’t even make it to the Olympics, most athletes who compete in the Olympics don’t win a medal Does that mean they fail? Any athlete who sets goals and does their best to attain those goals is not a failure even if they don’t win a regional competition. The process of improvement and moving towards a goal is the most important aspect of any athlete’s life. If they are mentally astute, they will see the parallel of the process in any area of their lives.

If we aren’t on a seminar stage teaching people or writing books and famous for our relationships or professions, does that mean we fail? Nope! As long as we are improving and moving to a higher plain, I believe we are winning.

Ask your boss, what can I do to improve? Ask your spouse, what can I do to improve my relationship with you? What about your kids? Do you have the courage to do that? If you get an answer that suggests there could be improvement, will you act on it? Whew! Just writing this makes me nervous, now I’m going to have do it myself!

If we do, then we’ll win a gold medal in life, the way I see it anyway!

Defining Freedom

Dictionary.com has seventeen definitions of freedom; they all relate to each other and are similar in concept. So, for the sake of brevity, I'll list my top four:

1. The state of being free or at liberty rather than in confinement or under physical restraint.
2. Exemption from external control, interference, regulation, etc.
3. The power to determine action without restraint.
4. Personal liberty, as opposed to bondage or slavery: a slave who bought his freedom

I like to start from the very beginning, it’s a very good place to start (excerpt from Do, Re, Mi, Sound of Music). It’s best for all of us to start at the beginning so that we are standing on the same premise. Even though many of us will have different ideas and concepts of freedom, we may need to come back to these definitions to keep us on track.

Without confinement, external control, interference, regulations, without restraint, all these words remind me of the part of the movie Shawshank Redemption when Andy Dufresnes played by Tim Robbins escapes from prison, tears off his prison shirt and raises his hands and face to the sky and just laughs. He escaped from confinement, external control, and restraints. What an amazing feeling he portrayed on film!

Have you ever heard that freedom isn’t free? What sort of cost to freedom is there? I think the biggest cost to freedom is responsibility.

Imagine giving a toddler all of the freedom he wants, what would happen? Perhaps he would walk out on the road and get hit by a car, perhaps he might pick up a sharp knife and stick it in his mouth, perhaps he'd pick up something decayed and dirty and eat it! The toddler isn’t aware of the dangers of this kind of freedom.

What if you needed to get to somewhere across the country quickly for a family emergency and someone you knew owned an airplane and said to you, “Here, I can’t take you but here are the keys, take my airplane and you’ll get there on time!” Not a good idea, unless you’ve had the training to fly his plane. So, freedom has its limitations! We can’t expect freedoms without some level of knowledge of the implications of our actions that we are free to do. Most of us gain this knowledge through our own and others' experiences. We take courses, read books and listen to our parents, teachers and mentors. Steven Covey says in his books that responsibility is a level of maturity. The bible says that if we are given much then much is required of us.

So the more we know how to do, the more we are free to do. This may sound too obvious for most of you but yet I hear statements like, “I wish I could just win the lottery and that would solve all my problems!” Or, “I just need a lucky break, then I’ll be able to do what I’d always hoped I would do. Or, “If I just didn’t live on the bad side of town, I could do anything I’ve always wanted.” If anyone says something like that within earshot of me, they will usually hear something from like, “Really, what do you mean by that?”

I remember a lady, who I worked with in government, said that she wished she would win the lottery. I knew she was a Christian from previous conversations and I mentioned the bible quote about being given much and that much is required. I told her that winning a lottery is like throwing the keys of a car to a 5 year old and telling him to have a great time! Most people who win the lottery are worse off in about 2-5 years, we’ve all read and heard reports about this. I also said that there are two main reasons we don’t have a lot of money, one, we don’t know how to keep it, and secondly, we usually don’t know more than one or two ways to make it. Robert Kiyosaki, author of Rich Dad Poor Dad says, “There are two problems with money, not having enough and having a lot! Both are problems that need education.” She agreed and smiled but I’m sure she still wished she won the money, I think we all do. I think we all find it quite incredible that people could be worse off after winning a lottery.

Responsibility is a very big key to freedom. Knowing what to do with the many challenges we are faced with day to day will determine the level of our freedom. So, the more problems you know how to solve, the less constraints and restraints you’ll have, the more freedom you’ll have. When I hear my kids say things like, “This is too hard!” or “I wish I didn’t have so many problems!” I might say, “Great, hard is good! Imagine what it’ll be like when the hard thing becomes easy! The size of the problems you know how to solve is directly proportional to how much you will be compensated."

If you run away from your problems what will you be able to accomplish for yourself and others? Tackle the problems, find someone who’s already solved the same problem, learn from them and solve it yourself. Freedom!

Intro

I have a passion for freedom. I have filled my DVD case and my bookshelf with stories of freedom, I love freedom! I also have a passion for truth. I believe they go hand in hand, don’t they? The bible says, knowing the truth, shall set you free. So, the more truth we know the more freedom we have, makes sense doesn’t it?

I’ve never written a blog before, I’ve read many, and I’ve made comments on a few. I’m excited about this amazing technology that I may have an outlet to let my heart speak out and share it with others. Hopefully, this will partly fulfill my passion of discovering more truth as others share their comments and ideas.

I plan to be sharing my heart and thoughts as life issues come up from time to time. I will also be discussing freedom concepts in areas such as time management, money, religion, politics and so on and so forth. I hope it will make a difference in your lives as I'm sure it will make a difference in mine.