Let your Human Side Shine. - By Sidharth G Kumar

 Human beings have long shown a tendency to function more efficiently when the promise of an external reward is on the table. But the question is should the satisfaction and joy of achieving a coveted reward be the only thing that matters to a person? Or is there something more satisfying and morally elevating thing out there? The story ‘My Greatest Olympic Prize’ and the incident between Ivan Fernandez and Abel Mutai certainly points to the latter.

The German Olympic athlete Luz Long jeopardized his chance at winning an Olympic Gold medal by giving some extremely useful pointers to eventual winner and lifelong friend Jesse Owens, which instilled in him a sense of confidence and belief, which helped him push through, break the barrier and win the prize. Luz did this while being under the direct observation of Hitler, and could have endangered his own life at the hands of the fascist ruler. Luz Long didn’t bother about his own safety nor did he get caught up in the promise of glory and glamour associated with winning an Olympic gold medal and instead let his humane side shine through which led to him winning much more than a prize. Long ended up earning the respect, love, and admiration of the whole world and spreading a message of hope and unity across the world during a highly divisive time.

In the case of Ivan Fernandez Anaya and Abel Mutai, we witness a similar story. Fernandez Anaya had the glorious opportunity to defeat an Olympic champion in a marathon, but he instead passed on it. On realizing that his opponent, Mutai, had mistakenly stopped before the finish line, Anaya directed Mutai to continue racing which led to him winning the race. To everyone else, Anaya may have just given up his chance at glory and fame associated with defeating a world champion, but with his actions, Anaya earned the respect and admiration of everyone across the world for his sportsmanship and integrity. 

These stories and incidents open our eyes to the fact that human beings have an unlimited potential to do the morally correct thing even when the offer of unimaginable material glory exists as the alternative. This tendency rests inside each and every one of us and all we have to do is to let that human side of ourselves shine through when the opportunity presents itself.