Getting Perspective

From Trump to the Olympics

Getting Perspective: From the Winter Olympics to Donald Trump

I’ve spent the last two and a half weeks or so, recovering from a heart attack. Ladies, pay attention to your heart. The condition that landed me in our level one trauma center is called Takotsubo Syndrome, aka “Octopus Heart” or “Broken Heart Syndrome.” Common in women in their 60s, caused by stress or trauma to the heart. My son said, “Mom, this is proof positive that the Hallmark Channel kills.” I will talk more about this, my recovery and my new mission of women and their heart health in the future, but the point is I’ve spent a lot of time unplugged from the noise and able to think deeply and come to some conclusions.

I’m thankful for the Winter Olympics. My routine has been to get up, take my meds, take my blood pressure, see what docs appts I have this week and do my first of three leisurely walks a day. I sprinkle in a little Tai Chi for Seniors and Chair Yoga for Seniors. See the pattern here. Thankfully, every day of my recovery, I’ve had Winter Olympics events to watch. A model of heart health to watch and cheer on. Social Media and others would like you to believe the dumba@@#$ who were highlighted at the beginning of the games dissing their country were the norm on this USA Olympic Team. My sense was that these were the outliers, so I discounted him and watched the games for myself. Team USA members are very proud to be on the American team and to a man or woman looked reverent and happy on the podium and looked proud to be Americans and of Team USA!

I’m very emotional right now—a near death experience will do that to you, so I shed more than a few tears over the national anthem being played.

I’ve paid attention to politics but didn’t really watch the president speak much. I watched the speech in Rome, Georgia this week, the comments after the Supreme Court decision about tariffs and caught clips here and there. Mr. President, all in all, you are doing a great job. Inflation is down, home prices are down in some key price groups, gas is down and the markets are strong. I could list more, but this gives a picture. Let’s be honest here, prices are not going down to 2019 levels and wages are up, but not enough to offset the rise in prices—so the feeling is not there yet, but it will be and I’m hopeful it will be in enough time to percolate into the midterm elections.

But here’s a little advice on what you need to do. Stop talking about the past, don’t take a wonderful Black History Month event you had at the White House as a time to bash your predecessor. A good rule of thumb is when you take a job, you can only talk about the incompetence of the person before you for 6 months. Then you need to talk about what you are doing. Don’t complain every time things don’t go your way. It was disgraceful how you talked about the Supreme Court on Friday. Take your lumps, put a positive spin on them—because things are mostly going your way—and move on.

Your base will not abandon you. Your audience is not the people who show up at your rallies. Your get out the vote goal is the people who voted for you, won the election for you but won’t be coming to your rallies. Everytime you complain about the 2020 election or sideswipe something that doesn’t go your way, you lose a few more “squishy Republican women” from the suburbs for someone in the Midterms. We need those people. You won in 2024 and can win in the Midterms because you bring along and make welcome the independents, “squishy Republican women,” and people who don’t agree with you 100%. I am optimistic but you need to take a hockey term and keep it in check.

Please be more like Klaebo of Norway, who never gives up with a smile on his face in a beast of a skiing event with unbelievable stamina. Or be more like Ilia Malinin, who had a big fail a few days ago, something like a loss in 2020, and he came out and skated like a champion on Saturday night and dispersed and disbanded his naysayers on social media. Or the USA ice dancing couple who the French judge used their clout to give the gold to their country’s team when Team USA Chock and Bates clearly won the gold—but they held their head high and showed the world they were champions on Saturday night.

Life is like the Olympics. Some of us are champions, some of us are sore losers and some are observers. What do you want to be?