Attempting to escape difficulties will cause more pain.
It was not until I left wrestling after my sophomore year of college that I began to think of myself as a “quitter”. For those of you who don't know my story, I am 21 and have been wrestling for basically my whole life.
In 2022 I left wrestling for about 8 months and didn’t want to return to competition. During that time I wasn't very confident in myself. I took up jiu jitsu and mma but it was different. I wasn’t holding myself accountable to attend practice everyday. I didn't know why I wasn’t “happy.”
When I originally left wrestling I thought that life would be easier without it. Life seemed easier without extreme weight cuts, 2x a day practices, and the disciplined lifestyle that came with being a college wrestler. At that time I thought that by avoiding the hard things I would find peace. That is when life got much harder.
Humans are meant to do hard things. Sometimes our first instinct can be to “run” or make an excuse. Our minds will tell us a lot of lies to get out of doing difficult things. What appears to be the easy way, will always be the hard way. Life is always going to be difficult. Do not run away from it, run into it.
This is a metaphor that I have read in a couple books: The cow vs. the buffalo.
When there is a storm, cows run away from it. They end up being in the storm longer than the Buffalo that charges directly into it. Address the problem and be like a buffalo.
There is something about wrestling that pushes humans to their limit. When you meet your “limit” and push through, you meet a new part of yourself that you didn't know was there. That part of yourself is delightful and at peace. Nothing comes close to the feeling of overcoming the things that seemed impossible. Most people won't ever know the places wrestlers go mentally. It is a dark place. But that same place holds the gems.
I am grateful to be competing again, and for the people who led me back to wrestling.
Hebrews 12:11: For the moment all discipline seems painful rather than pleasant, but later it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it.