My friends at Wrestlelogy shared the title quote on Facebook, yesterday. “Challenged” (i.e., inspired) by my friend and Sacred Heart University Wrestling coach, Andy Lausier, to write a blog post a day for the rest of the wrestling season, this seemed like a great place to start.
It is a common expression in sport to say “leave everything on the field” or “leave everything on the mat”. No doubt, this is what every athlete should do. I relate this to the parable of the talents, as well—if you hold anything back, you are letting down your team. Every game. Every practice. The athlete has to “bring it”.
Why not bring this coaching philosophy to one’s daily life? Why, if we athletes and former athletes bring it to practice and competition, can’t we “bring it” to our work and our relationships? The meme struck a chord with me. Maybe it is because it was shown to me by Wrestleology on the start of my son’s wrestling season and at a time when I was given my charging orders (so to speak) from a wrestling coach who demonstrates the very concept. Whatever the reason, I am so inspired.
If I am ever “off of my game”—whether as a college professor, as a father, as a husband, as a friend, etc.—I am letting someone down. I am not bringing my talents, and I am not leaving everything I have in this room.
Now some might say this is putting too much pressure on someone. Dare I respond: “Suck it up, buttercup”? ‘Cause I’ll say it to myself. I have to stop making excuses or saving my energy.
“Leave everything you have in this room” is the very essence of carpe momento. It is what I mean when I tell my son: “be your best today; be better tomorrow.”
When I go to bed at night, can I truly look in the mirror, as I brush my teeth and take out my contacts, and say “I gave it my all, today.” Did I live my values and mission? Did I give all I could in every relationship and every interaction? This is the pursuit of a “well-centered” life—giving one’s all Spiritually, Physically, Intellectually, Emotionally, and Socially.
Everyone who has ever seriously trained for a sport knows the satisfaction that comes from giving one’s all in preparation and/or competition. The athlete who left everything in the room sleeps well. Such an athlete closes his or her eyes and falls fast asleep with a “pleasant sense of fatigue”. So should we rest long after our competitive season ends.
I challenge myself, today, (and you are free to join me) to leave everything I have in this room (whatever room that might be). Remember: one’s attitude shapes one’s attitude. I choose to receive every moment as an opportunity to be successful. Whatever the outcome, it will be my best for today.
“The easiest thing to do in the world is pull the covers up over your head and go back to sleep.”—Dan Gable