Wrestling with Life

Back in High School I participated in three sports, Football, Baseball and Wrestling. I believe I excelled in two of them, Baseball and Football.  Wrestling was another story.  I was a mediocre wrestler.  Sometimes I won, sometimes I lost.  It was a 50/50 proposition.

I wrestled for something to do in the season between the sports I loved.  It kept me busy, it got me in better shape, and it was something to do. I did not really like it that much.  I had no real desire to “pin” anyone.  I felt no desire to hold someone down on the mat and dominate them. About the only thing I liked to do in wrestling was to “take someone down”.  Once I did that, I eventually would let them go.  This became my strategy.  You received two points for taking someone down, and they got only one point for getting away.  If I could beat them on the take down issue, AND if I could get away from them, I would win the match. 

I learned life lessons from baseball, and I learned life lessons from football.  These were great team sports and the lessons learned have made me a pretty good teammate in life.  I am helpful, supportive and I believe I do a pretty good job of holding up my end, doing what is expected of me and helping the team.

Lately my reflections have focused more on what I have learned from wrestling. These reflections made me glad I participated in this sport that I did not enjoy all that much at the time.

Life, for me, has been more like wrestling. 

For starters, life, like wrestling really is an individual sport.  Yes, I enjoy family, friends, co-workers, acquaintances and even strangers.  But at the end of the day winning and losing is really dependent on what YOU do and YOU are pretty much alone on the mat.

It really is YOU and an opponent – LIFE.  And if you do not get your nose in there, if you slack off, if you do not pay attention your opponent is going to take you down.

And for me life is like wrestling because:

I am not all that interested in it – It is just something I am doing between the things I love.
            Lets face it, most of life is tedious, repetitive, somewhat painful and a struggle

            Most of life calls for you to stick your nose into areas that you would rather avoid

Life makes us DO things that we are certainly not prepared for, do not know how

            to do, and sometimes do not want to do but you do anyway

Like wrestling, life can be exhausting and wear you out 

And my approach to life is similar to my approach to wrestling

            I certainly have no desire to dominate anyone

            When challenges come I am content to “take them down” and once down to let

                        them up and avoid them.

I am content to take my two points and give back the one, I wish to win but have

no desire to “pin” life or other people in my desire to live

And it goes without saying that the hardest thing to do in life, like wrestling, is to make weight