We have completed the Olympics 2020 in the year 2021, in a spectacle without spectators! These are different times indeed but what is important is that as humans we are doing all that is possible to achieve the most optimal outcome possible.
Reading about the Olympics brings about some interesting characteristics of the human experience. The feedback from those who made it to the podium shows that the ones that take home the Bronze are actually happier than those who take home the Silver. This is a quirk that confounds our rational approach to things.
A Silver medal in an absolute sense is better than a Bronze medal, so logically the Silver medalists should be happier. However, in a lot of sporting formats, the Silver is won in the final match, where the sports person loses that match to win the silver, while the Bronze is often won by winning the last match. Also, in other sporting formats like a race, the two people in front of the pack are fighting to come first, while it’s the third and forth in the pack that are fighting to just be able to get a medal and a chance at the podium. Bronze winners are happy to make the Podium as they are aware that if they were slightly slower, they may have been almost as good but would be fourth and without a medal.
We have seen during the last year and a half, people that have had severe illnesses and hospitalizations but have survived, have been grateful to be alive as they saw some others succumb to the virus. At the same time, some of those that did not have the illness but were quarantined at home for safety, may have lamented someone’s vacation pictures on Instagram. Some businesses have made handsome profits and they may be looking at some of their competitors who moved earlier or had financing available and may be regretting their inability to fully replicate the success, while those that had almost written off their businesses but still managed to stay afloat are just happy to be around as the economy now opens up.
It is truly important to objectively see where you are and be grateful for the same, while ensuring that there is no complacency since what has been done well, can always be done better in the future.