It’s crazy all of the things that can happen behind the scenes whilst in preparation for a big opportunity or event in your life. In regards to an athlete, it’s often a big game or match (for me, a fight or competition). Whilst others may be a career-oriented opportunity or a networking event. I know there have been several times leading up to a fight or a competition where I was dealt a hand that was full of reasons to keep me from performing at maximum clarity. Whether it be a devastating loss (i.e. death), a painful injury I am dealing with, personal matters weighing heavy on my heart, or a whole slew of other things that I can use as a crutch or an excuse should things not turn out the way that I envision. Or even as a triumphant exclamation of “look what I was able to accomplish in spite of all the things threatening to keep me down!” I know I know, not very humble of me to admit, but I thrive on adversity and perseverance and it’s good for me to recognize that in order to keep my humility in check.
Once, I had to fight shortly after the death of someone near and dear. Another time, I had to compete after almost no sleep due to being at the hospital until late hours to care for someone. My last fight, I dealt with a heartbreaking end of a relationship that was almost worse than any fizzling out of a romantic one. Another time, I had to compete after what was almost a catastrophic injury earlier in the week that I had to work around in order fulfill my obligations. And there was the time I had to conquer a short-term arduous weight cut and training all on my own without a prior hint of abandonment. Some of these, I was able to push those negatives out of the forefront and prevail. Other times, I floundered under the weight of it all and let my mind beat out my body and fell short of a victory. Every single one of those times, I learned a different and valuable lesson of what the human mind is truly capable of.
With all of the above examples, I have noticed the one true constant with every single instance. And that is, that everyone is constantly dealing with a bunch of different personal and physical battles on the daily. Some, are minor grievances. Others are absolutely dream annihilating opportunity ruiners. But so many people have conquered those demons and have been able to do the job at hand. Many have also been crushed by the external factors going on around them, and some sympathize and understand why they weren’t able to reign victorious and yet, some criticize every single thing about them. At the root of it all, most don’t care. Not to sound cruel or harsh, but the truth is that everyone is dealing with their own shit, and they don’t always have the time or the energy to empathize with the woes of someone else. And when it comes to fighting and Jiu Jitsu, those who don’t compete at the elite level surely do not understand all of the hard work and sacrifices and expect a job to be performed regardless of personal matters. It really is a dog eat dog world sometimes.
Human beings love an underdog. Countless movies and pieces of literature based on a Cinderella-esque type of story, where the bedraggled and woe-begone protagonist has to overcome obstacle after obstacle and downfall after downfall in order to prevail. We are not rooting for the person who gets things handed to them on a silver platter and the one who never faces a setback. We get on our feet and cheer for the one who suffers countless devastations and heartbreaks and miseries. We love to watch them rise from the ashes and set fire to those who doubted them and tried to keep them down. We want to see them rise up anew and with a fiery perseverance to conquer whatever dared to try to drown them in the first place. The character that gets put down and chooses to stay down is not one the audience hypes up. It’s the person who stares their setbacks in the eye and is determined to beat them anyway. The person who falls down 9 times, but gets up 10. The little engine that could, even when their gas tank is on E, still chugga-chugga-choo-choos their ass over that hill regardless.
I know life is tough, man. It’s the hardest thing we all endure and nobody makes it out alive. But if you’re reading this, I implore you, I beg of you, to keep working hard no matter what. When you think you’ve worked as hard as you possible can, do a little more. Go that one extra inch, that one extra mile. Luck is what happens when hard work meets opportunity and fortune favors the bold. I’m not going to lie to you, I have had a rough couple of weeks. I’ve cried more in a few days than I had in months. I’ve dealt with some setbacks and personal blows. And as much as I wanted to crawl under the covers and stay there, I dusted myself out and used those setback to fuel the fire burning in my soul to just keep going. I am far from done, and I am so excited to take this time to see how far I can go. How much I can push my body to cultivate the fighter I know I can be. That’s the thing, I know it will be hard, but I also know me. I know I can do more and accomplish more and chase my dreams to fruition. In fact, there is no doubt in mind that I will prevail, because I am doing all I can now to work my butt off to make it a reality. Even when the job is done, I won’t be satisfied as long as I keep working. So even if nobody cares about the setbacks behind the scenes because they expect results anyway, I will prove to myself and to the world that no matter what tries to hold you down, you can always fight to rise again.
