On Friday, Charmain Yun, Executive Director of Christian Community Action, was our guest at Chaplain’s Tea. She said many insightful things, but one of her comments that really stood out to me was her answer to the question of what she thinks could help end homelessness. She named a few different things, highlighting systemic changes that are needed. Her core answer, though, was that our society needs to resist the constant push to “maximize” everything around us. This culture of maximizing (our finances, the size of our houses, our relationships, our ambitions, even our time) has led to a disconnection from our ability to have a sense of what is enough for each of us in our lives, and how we can work to share what we have with those who need more.
As she reflected on this, I thought about how much I have enjoyed watching the Olympics this year. On its surface, the Olympics seems like it would be a place where maximizing one’s accomplishments is valued above all else. And yet, why I love the Olympics is that it is full of stories of people from all around the world looking out for each other and showing amazing displays of sportsmanship and neighborliness to people others are convinced they should be competing with and working against. Two moments that highlight this resistance to “maximize” and value of neighbor are below:
On Feb. 12th, Gaon Choi, a 17-year-old Korean athlete, received her first gold medal in women’s snowboard halfpipe, and Chloe Kim, the American two time reigning golf medalist, won silver. As I watched the race unfold and have seen Kim’s interviews since, it seems Kim was almost more elated that Choi won than if she had done it herself. Kim has been mentoring Choi when Choi for many years. This moment made me reflect on my own family, mentors, and friends who have celebrated my successes as their own (especially when my success limited their own opportunities.) This is the beauty of the human experience – success is not limited to what we see reflected on our own resumes, but how we celebrate and participate in one another’s collective successes. Chloe’s joy was “maximized” not by winning gold, but by seeing her peer and mentee thrive.
On Feb. 19th, in the women team biathlon event, France had a strong lead. They were so far ahead that Julia Simon, the anchor, could have lapped the Ukrainian team. If she had lapped the Ukrainian athlete, the Ukrainians would not have been allowed to finish the race. Instead of lapping her and finishing with a faster time, Julia slowed down so that the Ukrainian team could finish. Julia and the French still came in first, but her sportsmanship showed her willingness to prioritize the shared experience of the games for all instead of needing to have a faster time in the history books.
At this moment in history, and at a competitive place like Yale, it is easy to lose sight of what truly “winning” means. We can get caught up in zero sum game thinking, assuming that someone else’s success reflects our failure, or that our success has to come at the expense of another’s opportunity. How can we, like Chloe, Julia, and Charmain resist this way of thinking? How can we resist maximizing our lives at the expense of connecting with those around us? When can we recognize when we have done enough or when we have enough, and share from our place of abundance with those around us?