We acquire the strength we have overcome.
Emerson
What makes wrestlers different from many people is their understanding of what
Mihaly Csikszentmuhalvi so profoundly wrote,
“Of all the virtues we can learn,
No trait is more useful,
More essential for survival,
And more likely to improve the quality of life
Then the ability to transform adversity into an enjoyable challenge.”
Wrestlers understand that pain is a gateway to achievement.
Pain is a necessary evil which must be endured to receive the reward one desires.
Pain is a separator of people during battle.
We have all heard the expression,
“No pain, no gain.”
It is a cliché because it’s true.
Nothing worth achieving comes easy.
Everything worth achieving will have trials and tribulations attached, dark moments of doubts that will push you to the edge of your beliefs where you must decide whether to endure or quit.
Every time you endure the doubt, you store some strength.
Every time you quit, you lose strength, and it then becomes easier to quit the next time.
Have you ever noticed that a wrestler will always choose the most painful option?
Why?
Are they just masochists that love pain?
No, quite the opposite.
Wrestlers crave the desired outcome more than they despise pain, and they understand that the only way to get the desired outcome is to embrace the pain.
Pain is a toll booth to success.
Pay the toll and store the strength.
Muhammad Ali said it best when he said,
“I hated every minute of training.
But I said to myself, don’t quit.
Suffer now and live the rest of your life as a champion.”
Pain endured is strength stored.
Pain Endured Is Strength Stored
Is a chapter from
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Categories: Shorts
John Passaro 