15 Feb Are Athletes Living Their Soul Signature?

What We Can Learn From Our Olympians

As I watch the Winter Olympics in Sochi, try as I might, I can’t get scenes from ‘Blades of Glory” out of my head. While the goofy tale of two figure skating adversaries forced to team up and take the gold is clearly a comedy, the writer is proverbially plucking the rhinestones from a highly glamorized sport and shining a light on the competitive nature of “anything to win” athletics.

Some people slave diligently and methodically their whole lives to achieve Olympic prowess while others are driven solely by their passion for the sport. The latter are often blessed with natural talent and require less effort to attain professional levels of ability. When we see these gifted individuals fully embodying their sport, they make the unbelievably difficult look effortless and easy. What is a joy for them may be a grueling effort for others. You can see the difference between someone who’s lovingly expressing their authenticity and someone caught in up in ego driven competition or living someone else’s dream.

The athletes competing in the Sochi games are marvelous to watch, but I often wonder, “Which ones are just competing and which are living their soul signature?”

We can ask ourselves the same question. Are we “hitting the ice” every day because we feel we have to or because we can’t wait to lace up and skate? When we do succeed, and we’re standing on the podium ready to accept our award, are we authentically aligned with being there? There are certainly those who are in alignment and those who aren’t. There are players whose competitive focus is their driving force, and there are those whose adoration and enthusiasm keep them in the game forever. They would be on the ice, field, slopes, or court regardless of glory or gold medals.

The beauty of the Olympics is it provides individuals and nations the opportunity to put their god given talents on display. It allows people to see what hard work, discipline, talent and finesse can do. In modern society, these are all valid traits; however, some may flow easier than the others. Ego based competitiveness and survival mode tactics may actually get you where you want to go – even garner awards – but at what cost? When we approach life from a place of love, authentically embrace our soul signature, and bravely release our God given gifts out into the world, we transform our lives into a work of art.

Because the games only take place once in 4 years, some athletes may have a small window of opportunity to shine on the world stage with the pinnacle of their career arriving only once in their lifetime. If we all shifted our energy from a fear-based competition mode to accepting and embracing our true expression, we would always be champions. We all have our shining star inside us and when we embody our unique soul signature and live from a place of truth, light, and wholeness we take home the gold every day of our life.

Now, in the words of Chazz Michael Michaels, “Let’s kick some ice!”