The title above is a lyric from Jimmy Buffett’s 1995 released song, Barefoot Children, and it makes a lot of sense when coping with some of life’s daily grind and trying to keep things in perspective.

We all have situations where we experience ups and down, and have heard the oft-quoted words of encouragement, “Look on the bright side…”

As kids growing up, when events, or circumstances brought us down and we had that sad, or pouty face, or furrowed our brow because of anger or worry, whatever, we sometimes heard our parents say if we kept that look too long our faces would freeze like that. We were also encouraged to “turn that frown upside down.”

All those words of encouragement, or advice, are prompts to try and make us smile and look at what’s good in our lives, or how lucky we really are in our lives, and are spoken to help us keep things in its proper perspective. They’re passed along to us by people who care about us and don’t want us to be down in the dumps. The lyric from Buffett’s song is another reminder that we look better with smiling faces rather than stressed ones.

As many did in late July/early August, we tuned in to Olympic Games coverage, and we saw amazing athletic talent from some who were expected to win medals, and did, some who exceeded expectations and earned Olympic Glory, and some who faced adversity, injury, and disappointment as the games took place. There were many inspirational stories of athletes, their families, about lifetimes of training, sacrifices of family and athlete, the love, dedication, perseverance, motivation, and sometimes tragedy and sadness that were all part of the path just to get to Paris, let alone, imagining seeing themselves adorned and standing on a winner’s platform.

To those successful in their events, to those who kept the games in perspective, trying hard to remember they were all winners just being there, to all who smiled because they had the opportunity to be there experiencing the respect and awe for, and of, fellow athletes, the comradery of those in the same arenas as they were in, remembering they were all winners with or without medals. I know that’s a cliched statement, but it’s true, believe it or not, and in reference to Jimmy Buffett’s lyrics, the smiles seen during the games will make sure there won’t be room for wrinkles to grow anywhere on their faces for a long time, if ever.

Indeed, there were heartwarming, happy, sad, tragic, and amazing stories connected with the athletes, their circumstances, even their personalities, that were reported and shown throughout these past Olympic Games, but there were three, in particular, that stood out to the VFTB. These three, in no particular order were:

One, the four women of the women’s sabre fencing team from the Ukraine, as they stood on the Gold Medal Platform exhibiting so many emotions while awaiting, then singing the National Anthem of their country, was extremely moving, especially hearing their story of what they went through and endured to participate in these games with their country being at war with Russia.

Already having the weight of training and competing to qualify for the Olympic Games, these athletes had to withstand the pressures of being in a war-torn country, the worries of their families being in danger, many of their fellow Ukrainian athletes who were in the military fighting for their country, and many of those making the ultimate sacrifice, the giving of their lives, for that country.

As those four women stood on that gold medal platform, you could see their tears of joy and sadness, you could see the reverse of Jimmy Buffett’s words, as their huge smiles went where their worry wrinkles were, and probably would return, when they returned from the competitions in Paris. At least though, they had those smiles imbedded inside themselves which hopefully they can bring them back in those times the worry wrinkles try to return, as will probably be the case, for the duration of turmoil in their homeland, and beyond as well.

The second story that moved me that was outside the arenas of the games was that of a young British woman rower, Lola Anderson, who at age 14, wrote an entry in her diary, of her dream of winning a gold medal in rowing someday, repeating the accomplishment of Helen Glover and Heather Stanning’s victory in the Coxless pair at the 2012 London games. After rethinking the reality of her journal entry, she tore it out and discarded it, not knowing that her father who had cherished her dream and her words, retrieved it and stored it in a safety deposit box. In 2014, Lola’s father was diagnosed with cancer, whereby he withdrew the journal entry from the SD Box and gave it back to her before his passing in 2019. Lola’ honored her father’s memory after winning Olympic Gold in Paris. She, like the women of the Ukraine, saw her smiles replace worry wrinkles, and will hopefully be forever available through the memories, faith, support, and love from her father, whenever she needs to continue to remove those wrinkles if/when they might ever return.

My third emotional story from these latest Olympics, was the story of a self-proclaimed “nerd” from Worcester, MA. He competed as a member of the Penn State Gymnastics team, and decided to focus on only one event, the pommel horse. He mastered that event despite having vision a problem (coloboma) which forced him to wear glasses in everything he does with the exception of competition, where his sense of feel helps him in his gymnastic routines.

Stephen Nedoroscik, a member of the US Olympic Men’s Gymnastics team in this year’s games, was not your prototypical athlete. As the individual events took place, Stephen, seemingly calm, cheered on his teammates but remained as focused as someone who could also solve a Rubik’s Cube in fewer than 10 seconds. That focus and his patience worked well for him as he was the anchorman for the US team and his performance on the horse secured the US Men’s Gymnastics Team’s first trip to the medal platform since 2008. Later in the games, he won an individual bronze in his specialty event, and was monikered, the Clark Kent of Gymnastics, mild mannered until he removes his glasses and turns into a Superman.

We didn’t see many smiles throughout Stephen’s competition, but he made up for that after the team’s, and his own individual competition. There weren’t really any worry wrinkles showing on his face, just focus. After the competition, we saw smiles that I’m sure will stay with him for the rest of his life, almost guaranteeing there won’t be much room for wrinkles on his face for a long time.

I enjoy watching the Olympics and the stories behind the athletes. Being a grumpy guy more often than I wish to admit, I wear wrinkles where smiles should be, more than I like, but thanks to those Olympic stories, and my family and friends, I’m still able to smile, laugh, and even shed a tear of happiness when hearing the stories behind the events, that take place in so many people’s lives.