This Sunday, the United States commemorates the 35^th anniversary of the “Miracle on Ice.” At the 1980 Olympics in Lake Placid, New York, amateur hockey players adorned in USA jerseys defeated the world’s best hockey teams to not only capture the gold medal, but rally a nation facing turmoil at home and abroad.

In November of 1979, Iranian students overran the American embassy in Tehran, taking 66 people hostage. In December, the Soviets invaded Afghanistan, further escalating the Cold War. Americans had suffered a difficult year of inflation, record interest rates and long lines at the gas pump. With the Olympics being held at home, people were looking for something to lift their spirits.

Enter 20 collegiate athletes in a sport that hadn’t seen success in two decades. They were coached by Herb Brooks, who was cut from the 1960 team just one week before those Olympic games and missed out as the USA went on to shock the world with the original gold-winning “miracle team.” In 1980, the Soviets had reestablished themselves as the dominant world team with 21 consecutive Olympic wins and four consecutive gold medals. Another Soviet satellite team, Czechoslovakia, were favorites for the silver. But the determined Americans refused to accept defeat. In a few glorious days they captured the imagination of a nation, overcame the best that the world had to offer and compelled a young Al Michaels to ask, “Do you believe in miracles?”

What was it that enabled these underdogs to rise to the top? How did a group of overmatched, overlooked amateurs inspire a country and invoke the miraculous? And what can we learn from them 35 years later?

First, it took hard work – grueling, punishing, pushed-to-the-limit hard work. They weren’t as good as the Soviets, some of whom had been playing together for 15 years. They weren’t as big as the Soviets. In a David and Goliath scenario, there was no question who was David and who was Goliath. Coach Brooks molded these young men into one of the best-conditioned teams the sport had seen. Others might be more talented and more experienced, but nobody would be more physically prepared.

Second, it took teamwork. Coach Brooks didn’t necessarily pick the best individual hockey players for his team; he carefully selected those he believed would meld into a single unit. He knew superstars wouldn’t win the game. It would require an entire team to work together, step up, and win as one.

Third, it took ingenuity. Early in the process, some observers were upset by the unconventional approach Brooks took. They told him it wouldn’t work. They said he couldn’t make his players into something they were not.

The naysayers were wrong. A new, creative approach to the game was necessary to break out of the patterns of the past. To win, they had to be clever, original and creative.

Finally, it took a determined attitude that didn’t look for excuses, but always believed they could be the best. In the last exhibition game before the Olympics, the Soviets crushed the U.S. in a 10-3 route at Madison Square Garden. That was less than two weeks before the “miracle” game. In both medal games, the Americans fell behind their opponents. The U.S. never led the Soviets until they went up 4-3 in the third period. In the final game, they came from behind to beat the Finns. These young men simply refused to give up or give in.

“Great moments are born in great opportunity,” Coach Brooks tells his team just before the Soviet game, as portrayed by Kurt Russell in the 2004 Disney movie Miracle On Ice.  The same is true today. Each of us can, in some way, inspire others if we will work hard, work together, be creative, and never give up. We may even rise to a level that surprises everyone. Do you believe in miracles?

Randy Robison is a writer, host, and producer for the television program LIFE Today.