finding greatness in the ordinary

I miss the Olympics. I loved waking up and turning on the TV to see the latest developments in London overnight. I loved staying up late and watching the last of the day's races. I loved the little vignettes that highlighted the athlete's amazing stories. And I especially loved the commercials!! All those P&G "Thank you, Moms" that made me cry. I really loved the Nike ad of the overweight 12 year old boy running - "Find Your Greatness"!

This morning on The Today Show, Matt Lauer interviewed Nathan, (the 12 year old boy) and his mom. I guess there has been some backlash towards this ad and people think that he was being exploited. They think that he should be embarrassed to be on national TV looking like he does. They blame his mother for allowing this to happen. Really?

What is wrong with people? This 12 year old was happy as a clam to be chosen to be in Nike's olympic commercial! Who wouldn't be? He was so excited to see himself running on the big screen during the Olympics. In fact, he is now motivated (mostly by the "haters" of the commercial) to start working out and "getting off his feet".  If that's not a classic case of the ends justifying the means, I don't know what is.

Matt also interviewed Donny Deutsch, a well-known NY advertising executive to get his insight on the commercial. Deutsch said he loved the commercial and thought Nike did a great job and anyone who doesn't like it is discriminating. His point was, that we see all these sculpted bodies during the Olympics and that an ad like this is good, because people can relate to it much more than perfection. He goes on to say, "if this ad gets one kid off the couch" then it has served its purpose and "shame on" anyone who doesn't get this.

When it comes down to it, aren't we all striving to find our own little piece of greatness? The Olympics motivate us to do more. They push us to overcome our own insecurities and step out of our comfort zones. It makes me sad and angry that people can find fault in the most benign things. Just because your idea of greatness doesn't match someone else's idea of greatness, doesn't mean it's any less great.

Kudos to this adorable kid for stepping out of his comfort zone and showing the world what he's made of. I'm fairly certain we haven't seen the last of him.