It’s an exciting first weekend we just experienced, with the opening of the Summer Olympic Games in Paris, France. The week of the Olympics landed in the midst of a very busy series of news cycles that document world events and daily news. Good and bad news abounds, everywhere you look it seems. You just have to pick and choose what you want to let into your day. Yet, it’s important to be aware of the world around us, because the earliest displays of the lessons we teach our children revolve around how we respond to the ups and downs of life.

Olympic athletes spend their lifetimes, mostly, dedicated to a singular purpose of training their bodies, minds, and spirits for excellence. From early inspirations, to learning from coaches, to finding personal trainers, and giving hours of sacrificial practice in lieu of taking it easy, no one person wins an Olympic medal alone. It truly does a team to train that future competitor. And, on the days of competition, everyone who has had a hand in the process of that person’s development can take a deep breath and smile, knowing that they played a role in getting them there.

Children are constantly monitoring adults to watch their examples of how to celebrate good news as well as to absorb bad news. Sometimes it’s easy to forget that, especially if you’re new to having a new member of your household. I was watching some of the Olympic coverage this weekend and there was a commercial that showed multiple children racing around a track at school, clearly competing with one other.

Segment after segment showed one child falling down, on a running track, on a soccer field, or a baseball field, and another child, a competitor, nearby stopping or turning back to go back and help the other child up, putting them back on their feet and giving them an encouraging pat on the shoulder. Not one word was said during the 30-second commercial until the end when the announcer said something to the effect that “Set the example for them to follow.” Message received and beautifully delivered.

The three Olympic

that are set forth are excellence, respect, and friendship. Whether in international sporting competition or in local business, these are three excellent values to hold to if you want to build and sustain positive relationships to endure for the length of time that you have your business. It’s certainly what we strive for, and our children are listening and watching everywhere we go and what we do and say. That’s a positive reason to be consistent, kind, and caring in everything we do.

It’s not easy, especially when in times where we don’t always agree with one another, in whatever setting we find ourselves in, disagreements may arise, tempers can flare, but just as quickly, we can reassess what a particular friendship means to us before we allow a disagreement to damage or even destroy it. Name calling is no more suitable for adults than for children. Possibly with the exception of one or two particular football games, we can all just agree to disagree with the opposition on who is right and who has failed, one year at a time, and the loser can repeat the mantra, “Wait ‘til next year,” and there’s always a next year. Always.

However, it does no good to trash-talk the opponents just for the sake of popular rivalries, because children don’t yet distinguish good-natured ribbing from attacking or cutting down the competition. Still, old habits die hard…particularly during football season. It’s bound to happen once you start collecting clothing in either maroon or orange…and goes from there.

Good examples of the USA Men’s and Women’s Swimming team were all around to watch this weekend. As one swimmer prevailed in the contest and the top three came in, you could not distinguish the joy between all of the USA teammates, as they sincerely celebrated one another as though each had prevailed as the winner, because as fellow members of Team USA, they were all indeed genuine winners.

Just making the trip to the Paris games means elite standing among world athletes. In the heat of competition, it’s easy to forget the statistical probability of an athlete coming from a small town in a small state, never before having seen their name in print beyond the local or state papers. And, with each special award and honor earned, every night and every day during the Olympic coverage, names are repeated, video footage of amazing victories, some separated by hundreds of seconds is shown, and reshown, and new names will be forever remembered from this week forward.

Learning how to lose is just as important as learning how to win. Most successes in life come after multiple failures. We learn most from our failures if we are wise and pay attention. If we keep in mind that every day we are modeling behavior to other eyes, adult, and child alike, then perhaps more people will mirror our behavior, if they like what we see. Treating people as you wish to be treated is something we learned in kindergarten, but it’s still true. No one person is as smart as “all of us,” and we can always benefit from the wisdom and experience of those who went before us, paving the way.

Congratulations to all our Olympians competing in Paris these next weeks and be prepared to shed a tear or two when the national anthem is played, and we receive our share of Gold Medals (if this first weekend is any indication). It’s a wonderful time to be an American and to cheer for Team USA as we Go for the Gold!

Cody D. Jones ’02

Owner & Community Member

It’s an exciting first weekend we just experienced, with the opening of the Summer Olympic Games in Paris, France. The week of the Olympics landed in the midst of a very busy series of news cycles that document world events and daily news. Good and bad news abounds, everywhere you look it seems. You just have to pick and choose what you want to let into your day. Yet, it’s important to be aware of the world around us, because the earliest displays of the lessons we teach our children revolve around how we respond to the ups and downs of life.

Olympic athletes spend their lifetimes, mostly, dedicated to a singular purpose of training their bodies, minds, and spirits for excellence. From early inspirations, to learning from coaches, to finding personal trainers, and giving hours of sacrificial practice in lieu of taking it easy, no one person wins an Olympic medal alone. It truly does a team to train that future competitor. And, on the days of competition, everyone who has had a hand in the process of that person’s development can take a deep breath and smile, knowing that they played a role in getting them there.

Children are constantly monitoring adults to watch their examples of how to celebrate good news as well as to absorb bad news. Sometimes it’s easy to forget that, especially if you’re new to having a new member of your household. I was watching some of the Olympic coverage this weekend and there was a commercial that showed multiple children racing around a track at school, clearly competing with one other.

Segment after segment showed one child falling down, on a running track, on a soccer field, or a baseball field, and another child, a competitor, nearby stopping or turning back to go back and help the other child up, putting them back on their feet and giving them an encouraging pat on the shoulder. Not one word was said during the 30-second commercial until the end when the announcer said something to the effect that “Set the example for them to follow.” Message received and beautifully delivered.

The three Olympic Values that are set forth are excellence, respect, and friendship. Whether in international sporting competition or in local business, these are three excellent values to hold to if you want to build and sustain positive relationships to endure for the length of time that you have your business. It’s certainly what we strive for, and our children are listening and watching everywhere we go and what we do and say. That’s a positive reason to be consistent, kind, and caring in everything we do.

It’s not easy, especially when in times where we don’t always agree with one another, in whatever setting we find ourselves in, disagreements may arise, tempers can flare, but just as quickly, we can reassess what a particular friendship means to us before we allow a disagreement to damage or even destroy it. Name calling is no more suitable for adults than for children. Possibly with the exception of one or two particular football games, we can all just agree to disagree with the opposition on who is right and who has failed, one year at a time, and the loser can repeat the mantra, “Wait ‘til next year,” and there’s always a next year. Always.

However, it does no good to trash-talk the opponents just for the sake of popular rivalries, because children don’t yet distinguish good-natured ribbing from attacking or cutting down the competition. Still, old habits die hard…particularly during football season. It’s bound to happen once you start collecting clothing in either maroon or orange…and goes from there.

Good examples of the USA Men’s and Women’s Swimming team were all around to watch this weekend. As one swimmer prevailed in the contest and the top three came in, you could not distinguish the joy between all of the USA teammates, as they sincerely celebrated one another as though each had prevailed as the winner, because as fellow members of Team USA, they were all indeed genuine winners.

Just making the trip to the Paris games means elite standing among world athletes. In the heat of competition, it’s easy to forget the statistical probability of an athlete coming from a small town in a small state, never before having seen their name in print beyond the local or state papers. And, with each special award and honor earned, every night and every day during the Olympic coverage, names are repeated, video footage of amazing victories, some separated by hundreds of seconds is shown, and reshown, and new names will be forever remembered from this week forward.

Learning how to lose is just as important as learning how to win. Most successes in life come after multiple failures. We learn most from our failures if we are wise and pay attention. If we keep in mind that every day we are modeling behavior to other eyes, adult, and child alike, then perhaps more people will mirror our behavior, if they like what we see. Treating people as you wish to be treated is something we learned in kindergarten, but it’s still true. No one person is as smart as “all of us,” and we can always benefit from the wisdom and experience of those who went before us, paving the way.

Congratulations to all our Olympians competing in Paris these next weeks and be prepared to shed a tear or two when the national anthem is played, and we receive our share of Gold Medals (if this first weekend is any indication). It’s a wonderful time to be an American and to cheer for Team USA as we Go for the Gold!

Cody D. Jones ’02

Owner & Community Member

I’m watching the leaves begin to fall from the trees as I write this blog.

The silent journey of the leaves from the branch to the ground reminds me of the continuous cycles of change we experience…And not just the changing seasons, but the cycles of life, death and grief.

Here are some lessons these changing seasons can teach us about grief, death, and loss:

#1: Death is a completely normal part of life

When you look around during winter time, you see death everywhere. Bare trees, animals buried deep in hibernation, and the stark white snow covering everything (if you’re in the Northern Hemisphere). And the death of most everything around you can feel deep, dark and downright depressing. It can also feel never-ending. 

And yet, every spring, without fail, the snow melts and the flowers begin to bloom again. Death isn’t only natural, but it’s necessary for life. Nature teaches us that. And since we are nature, we must remember this, no matter how hard it gets.

#2: Resourcing ourselves for darker days ahead is natural

Let’s keep on with the metaphor of winter… When winter is approaching, animals and humans everywhere gather their harvests and store it for the dark, grimmer days to come. We know that the death of the many forms of life that nourish us is coming, and we resource ourselves for it. 

We can’t know when the death of a loved one is coming. It’s not scheduled, and set in stone, like the seasons. But, we can prepare for loss in general by resourcing ourselves. By finding peace with death in ourselves. By having a solid community. A great therapist. A daily practice that keeps us sane. Herbs and teas that help uplift us. With these resources already present in our lives, we can lean on them when we really need them, just like we do when the seasons change.

#3: Grief is real, but it will always change forms

When we see the seasons change, we see how all forms change, in all ways, and always. So why wouldn’t our grief change forms too? In the beginning, grief might feel like you’re being pinned to the ground, unable to function. And you might wish that your grief would just go away. But it will never just “go away”. Like a leaf falling from a tree, it will die and compost, and it will bring new life. 

I’ve heard many grief experts say that grief never goes away, but it grows with us. We relate to it differently as we move through all its stages. In a way, it becomes who we are. And it makes us more compassionate and open and tender, too. So instead of wishing away your grief, what if you just allowed it to move through its natural process and trust its presence in your life? 

#4: From our pain and loss, new life can form

As I mentioned above, grief and loss, like everything, also fuel new life. There isn’t a single person I’ve met who has told me that grief hasn’t changed them. It does change us. But sometimes it gets a bad rep. Sometimes we think grief “ruins” us. But if we really track it all the way, through its entire process, doesn’t grief actually break our hearts open? Isn’t there a tiny seed of beauty and compassion planted in every grieving heart? Doesn’t grieving help us to find our own depths, and have a more spacious way to hold others in compassion through their tough times, too? 

So maybe, then, we can find a way to let our grief transform us in the best way possible. 

Maybe, then, grief isn’t so bad, after all.

Maybe, then, grief is a wise teacher, like the seasons, and we can be ok with those teachings when they come.

How has the changing of the seasons inspired your grief journey? We’d love to hear from you in the comments below!