I don't want to survive, I want to LIVE!

Waking up to a beautiful Saturday morning, feeling good.

Checked out Michael Phelps. This young fella broke 31 World Records even before Beijing Olympic this year. He beats his rivals, previous swimmers' records, and his own record. His first world record for 200m Butterfly was during World Championship in Fukuoka, Japan in 2001; while his first Olympic gold was in 2004, where he won 2 bronzes, 6 golds, breaking 3 Olympic records, 1 world record and 2 American record. And duing Beijing Olympic 2008, until the writing of this post, Michael Phelps has won 7 gold, breaking 6 world records and 1 Olympic record. More importantly, he broke his previous World Record in the 200-meter freestyle by nearly a second.

It strucks me at how one leaves a legacy like this in his career. He is not only good in his gift - swimming, but outstanding! He is so famous that people write about him in Wikipedia, from brief introduction about him, to detailed personal life history and lengthy achievements in his swimming career.

To the rest of non-swimmers population, we also can taste one's effort in committment, feel one's determination to excel, and proud on one's achievement in the eyes of all mankind. An athlete makes use of all his physical strength to define limit from a new prespective. He charms the world with the fact that sport is not just about fame and glory. It's about aspiration for others to go beyond one's limit. It's an art of living out a meaningful life.

I believe everyone is gifted in different ways. Some people are born to shine in eyes of the world, some are born to work behind the screen and give the world a push; some are born to touch the lifes of many, some are meant for particular group of people. It's time we discover our gifts, and make full use of it to mark a difference in man's history that we ever live at all.

If you were asked: "What kind of legacy do you want to leave?", what would be your answer?

Cheers :-)