DISCLAIMER: this blog is mine & mine alone. Thou shalt not blame family nor friends nor employer for what you may read here
Mano a mano
Ah, the beauty of Saturday night: don't have to get up early the following morning. The time is mine, to do with what I wish. The only thing on tomorrow's schedule is coffee on the porch w/the dogs & the more challenging crossword puzzles in the St. Pete Times. Tonight was spent w/Kaya, Sonny, Sam Adams, Bernard Hopkins & Joe Calzaghe. Actually I was just watching Bernard & Joe duke it out in Las Vegas in a light heavyweight title fight. They went all 12 rounds & it was a good fight. I've come to appreciate skilled, tactical boxers - especially those in the heavier weight classes for the power, skill, speed, agility, adaptability, and perseverance they bring into the ring w/them. The same can be said of the elite MMA participants, like those in the UFC & WEC - incredibly skilled athletes, and probably vastly under-appreciated. Spend a few months hitting the heavy bag or taking instruction in martial arts & you'll understand how much work it takes to become marginally proficent, let alone make the skills & reactions second-nature, and you'll have a new appreciation for what these people can do.
The Buzz
There's something pleasant about a nice, comfortable, moderate buzz. Duh; I guess that's why so many ppl are alcoholics or drug addicts -the physical buzz & mental escape. I'm def not in that/those categories but I do enjoy a nice buzz when I have nowhere to go, no responsibilities to attend. That's part of being an adult for fuck's sake, the freedom to imbibe adult beverages in the privacy of my own home & harm no one. A few beers, then a nice vodka drink puts just the right slant on the night.
Strength
There are different kinds of strength: mental, emotional, physical, spiritual, and perhaps some undefined or unrecognized. It seems that not just surviving but succeeding in Life takes all the aforementioned. The macho or (IMO) simple-minded seem to think that physical strength is all that's needed to make it through, but most of us know better. Bigger ain't always better. Less than 1% of life's trials & tribulations require physical strength to succeed or come out victorious. It's the mental strength needed to endure, the emotional strength that allows one to believe in victory in the presence of adverse circumstances, the spiritual strength that pushes one to get up just one more time than they've been knocked down that separates the winners from the losers.
I think that most of us are stronger that we realize, more capable than we give ourselves credit for. Like the human brain, we probably tap into and employ much less of the Strength & Fortitude we possess. A favorite saying of mine: "nothing makes man more productive than the last minute" (for the procrastinator in all of us). I think that in the same vein, we fail to tap our true potential or begin to explore - let alone exploit - our inner strength until we experience a trial by fire or are under duress. I'm as slothful (is that a real word?) as the next person, and many times I'm tempted by or favor the easier of the routes to end game, but I'm getting better at challenging myself & choosing the road less traveled. More & more I seek the steeper, narrower, more treacherous path in order to test & challenge myself. Plus, in pursuit of living right, I know that the right way is rarely the easy way. I wanna push the envelope, push myself, in hopes of further exploring my own limits & more fully realizing my true potential. Like skeletal muscle, the mind & psyche of the human animal do not grow until they are overtaxed, overworked, stretched, stressed, strained, and begin to break down. Then they - the muscles, brain, and other components of Us - become stronger, more flexible, adaptable, and learned. More armed, ready, and game for the next obstacle. If you always take the easy way out & never face a tough task how do you learn to adapt & overcome? Without overworking your mental, emotional, or physical self how do you become stronger?
Those that know me know that Michael Jordan is a hero of mine, a role model if ever there was one to me. Fans of MJ know that he was not always a the consumate winner, they know that he was cut from his high basketball team in NC as a sophomore. But he worked his ass off in order to become better, nay, the Best There Ever Was. He has god-given talent, but he only exploited & realized that to the fullest through hard work, and dogged determination. Nobody, as an individual or as a member of a team, has ever gone through life or career undefeated. Winners have to lose along the way, learn the lessons of what they did wrong & how they were beaten, then adapt & overcome the next time around. The latest Jumpan23 commercial, featuring MJ's narration, eludes to the fact that if you want to end up a winner you cannot be afraid of losing or failure, and you cannot avoid pain. Again, success is not possible without some degree of failure. Was it John Stuart Mill that said something to the effect that "in the absence of evil you cannot know good, without pain you cannot know pleasure?" Someone correct me if I'm wrong here, but I think it was his Utilitarian slant...
Darwin's theory of evolution is/was that only the strong survive. Today, life has become so easy that you don't necessarily have to be strong to survive. But, I believe you do have to be strong to Succeed. And my goal is not simply to survive, but indeed to succeed. I think that in the end you cannot reach your fullest potential nor - as the US Army touts - be all you can be - by taking the easy road, go w/out testing yourself, or avoiding failure. Everyone has to take their lumps at sometime, at someone's (or something's) hands, and we all learn lessons along the way. But we come out better on the other side because of, and for, it all.
Well, that's it for now. I hope some of this made sense; I hope some of this sticks. But if not, fuck it! Live, learn, hopefully enjoy and grow along the way!
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