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Olympics - Parade of Nations

Every Olympics, we are treated to, in essence, what could be considered the longest red carpet ceremony ever.  The Parade of Nations is where every athlete comes into the Olympic stadium, behind their flag and waves to the crowd.  No matter what is going on in the world, we cheer.  We cheer humanity.

When I look at countries like Uzbekistan, Cote D'Ivorie & Mali it dawns on me how alike we all are.  We're proud of where we're from.  We don't show our troubles and our needs, but our athletes stand proud for all the good that is in the world.  In our country and theirs. If all these athletes could sit down and talk, I think we'd be better off than when our elected officials do so.  I'm sure the guy who just smoked the one athlete from Cameroon in the 200 meter respects him more than anyone.  I'm sure they could come to a common ground on anything, based purely on respect.

Why can't our leaders do what these athletes do for two weeks?  They train all their lives, some of them for a single race.  Win or lose, they hold their heads up high, shake their opponent's hand and they move on. Why can't our leaders act this way?  Why must religion, race and socioeconomic factors play such a role.

As the countries marched it dawned on me how beautiful these people are.  Some of them blond and pale as a freshly painted fence, while others are as dark as night. They all stood together, one as beautiful as the next. All good people. All the same.  Somewhere along the way, we've all forgotten that.

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