I know wrestling is dominating my posts lately. But, after all, it is wrestling season (and Coach Andy Lausier has challenged me to write a post a day for the season). So, today’s post continues the trend.
I observed something in my son’s practice on Saturday. It was a 3-hour practice, and I had told him that it would be an hour and a half. He wasn’t feeling all that well going into it, so he started to fall into a less than 100% effort after 2 hours (maybe sooner—I wasn’t watching all of the practice). I noticed that in the drills, he was putting little effort into his offense, but was fighting like heck to keep from getting pinned. I pointed this out to him and told him that it takes far less energy to go on the offensive than it does to fight getting pinned. It struck me that this is yet another life lesson brought to us from the sport of wrestling.
Too often we fear failure and, therefore, avoid trying all together. We settle for mediocre (or just the successful side of mediocre). Then, when life deals a setback, we fight like hell. In the end, we are drained from the fight.
Success warrants offensive action. It warrants taking charge and using our Spiritual, Physical, Intellectual, Emotional, and Social energies wisely.
How do you start your day? Do you begin with a plan? Do you begin with purposeful efforts to set your frame of mind right and to move forward with positive energy? Remember: attitude shapes one’s attitude.
Don’t start your day unprepared. Time spent setting goals, considering the opportunities that lie ahead, expressing gratitude, etc. is all time well spent. It is energy that is expended with a positive purpose. A small effort on the front end of the day will prevent one from having to exhaust one’s self in response to whatever troubles the day might bring.
Carpe momento!
“Anyone can wrestle until they’re tired”—Cael Sanderson