F YOUR ELBOW
You may look at an old fighters punch drunken, broken body and feel sorry for them. You may look at Ali or Freddy Roach, see them struggling daily and use that as a reason to never step foot inside the ring. Granted it is tragic, yet I see them and I am inspired. They are the epitome of someone who gave everything that they had towards going after and accomplishing their dreams. Some may comment,
“Yea, but look at them, is it worth it?” To all those people I say, “You're damn right it is!!!”
We are all going to end up worn out, used up, broken and dead one day. You can sit inside your house in a padded room, surrounded by doctors and nurses, being cautious of every little thing that you do. Sure, you may end up living a little bit longer, yet you will still end up in the same place that we all do. And is that really living? So I ask you, Is it worth it? Is it worth never risking anything only to end up in the exact same position that the person who gave it their all does?
Of course, it is tragic and heart breaking to see a fighter, athlete, or whomever, that has been killed or suffered irreversible damage, in the line of doing what they love, but this is no reason to not go after something yourself.
“It's not tragic to die doing what you love.”-Bodhi
I really love this video, more than anything, the two speeches in it that are from Mark Bell and Brandon Lilly. They both hit home on so many levels.
It is not a question of whether or not something is dangerous or risky; it is not a question of what might possibly happen. The only question here is, “What are you willing to do, what are you willing to sacrifice, what are you willing to go through and risk in order to be your best?”
Whenever I would have a serious injury, specifically the time I had my skull fractured, people would ask, “You're lucky to be alive man, when are you going to give all this up? Are you going to finally stop chasing this silly dream?” .…Not a chance in hell!!! As long as I am breathing then I will be spending every second going after my dreams, whatever they may be.
It would have been easy to take all those setbacks, and I have had my share of extremely serious ones, as reasons to give up. Most people do and that is why most people never make it and end up with many regrets. A lot of “What ifs” and “If onlys”. To me, these things are just more fuel for the fire to want to do more, to do be better, and to motivate as many people as I can to do the same.
Take for instance the handful of times I have broken my right hand. The second time I broke it I had a fight coming up only a month or so after. For most, it would have been a reason to back out, and who would have blamed them, but for me, as long as I'm breathing then I'm fighting. Now I am definitely not telling anyone else to do this, and I am not saying that it is the smartest or healthiest way to go, but you have to be willing to sacrifice in order to achieve great things. Fortunately for me, I was still able to go out there, perform and come out with a win. However, on the flip side, since I did not take care of it properly, I have had hand problems my entire career. Every single time I punch with it, I am in some level of pain or discomfort. I have had some work done on it and gotten some therapy, which has helped a great deal, but it is always there. The one thing that I use every single day, especially in training/fighting, causes me pain. But nothing worth having in this world will come to you easily, nothing will come without sacrifice, nothing will come without pain or discomfort, but it is a small price to pay in order to live your dreams and accomplish your goals.
The only difference that unites the people that make it and the people that don't has nothing to do with what happens to them along the way. It is only a matter of how they handle themselves when those things do. How they push passed it, how they used it to motivate themselves, instead of letting it break them down and add to the reasons to give up.
If it were easy, everyone would do it. So many people say they want to be a fighter, or want to achieve something, but when it comes down to it, they just aren’t willing to risk, work for and sacrifice what they will need to. They are afraid of pain, of fatigue, of failure, and all of those things will happen along the way, you can be certain of that. We will look for any excuse there is to not get off our butts and give something our all. You will see some “expert” come up with some statistics and do a report on why no one should participate in these activities, whatever they may be, stating how dangerous they are. News Flash: Life is dangerous, no matter how safe you try to make it. You can sit on your butt locked inside of your house and be “safe” or you can get off your ass and try to be your best, but you are going to have to put the work in. You have to pay your dues; you have to believe in yourself when the whole world is telling you otherwise.
If you want an excuse not to do something you will find one, there are plenty out there, whether real or made up. So next time you are faced with a setback see it as a challenge, instead of a reason to give up. It is just another test along the way to see what you are willing to go through in order to achieve. When you feel pain just remember, as long as you push through it, that it will make you that much stronger in the end. Pain ain't nothing but a feeling! It isn't real, it's in your head, you need to tell your body and brain who is running the show, and that is your heart. You can either let it convince you that you need to quit or you can use it to prove to yourself that nothing can stop you and that you are willing to do whatever it takes to achieve your goals. It is the one, unifying element that separates the champions from all those people out there who just talk about it.
Few are willing to put it all on the line in order to reach their goals. Those people that have given up, or that have never even tried, will then try to convince others to do the same, almost in order to justify their own shortcomings. They will tell you that achieving your goals is impossible, that having dreams is a waste of time and that you need to do things the way the world says you should. To fall in line and stop making trouble. Just remember, no one that has ever accomplished their dreams would try to deter you from yours!
Take risks, experience life, experience pain, failure, loss. Live your life knowing that you gave it your all and no one can ever take that away from you. We are all heading towards the same place. What are you going to do before you get there? What are you going to do with your dash? You do not have anything to prove to anyone but yourself.