Oh Alright

Tonight is the eve of the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver, and regardless of the myriad opinions on snow melt, commercialism, and politically incorrect kangaroo flags, I have to appreciate one thing the Olympics still strives for: to encourage us to be better people. This couldn’t be more obvious in both the competing athletes and the community at large, and I doubt that even the most curmudgeonly miser could ignore the happy faces in what some would call a desperate year of unemployment and bleak futures.

Looking back at reasons why I started to work on my own (I still struggle with calling myself ‘a business’…), it’s not enough for me to repeat what many Internet freelancers say: ‘you call the shots’, ‘work anywhere’, or my personal favorite, ‘flexible work hours’, are like siren calls to the forlorn company bound, but you learn pretty fast that these aren’t reasons enough to keep you afloat when times get tough.

Here’s where I find inspiration in the Olympics. Where gold, silver, and bronze are certainly appealing, but the true reward isn’t so much in recognition, it’s in achieving your personal best. Athletes have the confidence to compete not because they can ‘call the shots’ as experts, but because of their tenacity in training, their integrity to the sport, and most importantly (I think), the incredible support of their community. How could a medalist not burst at the seams with joy, if not for their own personal gain, but for the fact that they know mom is watching? Or that half a million of their country’s citizens are cheering from checkered sofas and hard plastic chairs?

On the contrary, I don’t think self employment is to actually serve yourself, it’s in having the flexibility to better serve others. We have the opportunity to do just what those athletes are doing: be the best that we can be, and honour our communities.

Good luck and God speed to all those participating in the Olympics!

Tags: 2010olympics, freelance

This entry was posted on Friday, February 12th, 2010 at 11:00 am and is filed under Beginnings. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.