Olympic Pressure and the Power of Nerves

The Olympics are fascinating. Watching the women's gymnastic competition (via "Tivo" since I fell asleep for it last night), I noticed the negative power of nerves. If you watch Michael Phelps swim, you see a calm demeanor combined with a relentless focus. The commentators even talk about how his face is relaxed and how important this is. The now famous loss of the French to the Americans in that amazing relay race is also credited to the French anchor tensing up in his last lap. Last night (or yesterday in China), Alicia Sacramone of the American gymnastics team fell off the balance beam and never regained her composure. She tried so hard. She tried too hard. She stopped having fun. You could see it in her face. It had nothing to do with her ability; she's clearly one of the best gymnasts in the world. The Chinese didn't beat her, her nerves did. It's an amazing lesson that sports at the Olympic level teaches us. The best performance always comes with being relaxed, not tense. Victory comes with the marriage of intense focus and deep mental peace. In Isaiah 30:15 it says that "in repentance and rest is your salvation, in quietness and trust is your strength." Being quiet and being strong go together. When we're uptight, we lose focus, and not just on the balance beam or in the swimming pool. When we're not quiet on the inside, we can't do our best on the outside. Nothing weakens us like the noise of nerves. If we don't have a peace that transcends our circumstances, our circumstances get the upper hand. May God make you quiet today and may all of us be able to see it on your face.