Human Emotions: The Sad Story of Joannie Rochette and How it Affects Us All

As the Vancouver Winter Olympics came around last month, I did the same thing I do every two years; I thought to myself, "That sounds interesting" and went on with my life.

Two weeks into the Olympics this time around I decided to tune in to one little "harmless" hockey game. This of course led to more hockey games, which led to more sports, which led to a full-out obsession with the Olympics in only a few days. The only sport that could not draw me in was Curling, which seemed to make about as much sense to me as smashing my head against a wall. At this point I hadn't experienced many human emotions, but that was about to change.

One day I read about Joannie Rochette and the loss of her mother, which is a very sad story. Watching her performance on CNBC's website I was deeply touched, and watched the video five times for reasons I still can't explain. I felt terrible for Joannie Rochette, as if there had to be something I could do to help. I'm sure a lot of people felt the same way, seeing her break down over her lost mother in front of the world. Talk about epic human emotions. In reality, there was nothing I could do but post a supportive Facebook message and hope that it helped somehow. After all, what am I but another fan out of millions?

As if the Joannie Rochette sad story didn't evoke enough human emotions for one day, I then saw the women's hockey finals game between Canada and the United States. Seeing the U.S. Women so upset after the loss made me realize just how hard these atheletes work for one big moment of glory. The Olympics is the ultimate in tough love and reality. The raw emotion we see through our TVs and computers are just reminders that where there is a winner, there is also a loser; Where there is triumph, there is a sad story.

Watching the closing ceremonies, I became aware of another powerful feeling that I yearned for; the feeling that you get when you're part of something special. I can't even imagine what it's like to be part of a global event like the Olympics. The closest I get to a sense of unity is waving somebody through a 4-way stop sign or playing a video game with others online. For most of us, these everyday things have to be enough, because we aren't part of the Olympics and we aren't board members in a giant company.

It's hard to come to terms with all of these human emotions. After all, it's not everyday you witness such an epic event as the Olympic Games. Most of the time you can live in your little bubble and pretend nothing is going on outside of it.

The Olympics are indeed an inspiration to us all. We can learn from each sad story and triumph. Joannie Rochette and the U.S. Women's Hockey Team are only two examples. The big question however is, can we find our own way to make a difference in the world, can we find purpose, and can we find peace?