12/6/2007
What I Learned from Being a Bad Wrestler
Robert Hruzek’s latest group project asks, “what did you learn from the world of sports?”
Organized sports were a big part of my life in high school. I was a pretty good football player and a very good (believe it or not) shot putter. But the sport that taught me the most was the one I liked least – wrestling. I had an excellent reason for disliking the sport – I stunk at it. However, because I was one of the biggest guys in our small high school, I was dragooned into service. Despite my abysmal record, wrestling taught me important life lessons.
Humility
Getting tied up like a pretzel and pinned so hard your shoulders nearly puncture the mat make you realize you have limits.
Resilience
No matter how badly I got beat, I’d have to bounce back and try again a few days later. Somehow I managed to convince myself I could win next time. Having humility doesn’t mean you give up – it means you push yourself harder and concentrate on the effort instead of the results.
Fortitude
Wrestling heavyweight, I’d have to sit across from my opponent eyeball to eyeball while all the lower weight classes wrestled. Usually my opponent outweighed me by 40 or 50 pounds and looked like The Terminator. At first the stress made me want to head for the hills and keep on running. After awhile I developed the ability to disregard the tension, put it out of my mind. That’s a nice thing to be able to do, whether the setting is sports, business, or everyday life.
What a Great Guy My Father Is
OK, I suppose I knew this anyway, but one of my most treasured sports memories came after a particularly nightmarish wrestling match, in which I spent about 90% of the time on my back in front of a huge home town crowd (this was Colorado, where high school wrestling is Big Time). I lost about 15-0, and cost our team the match. I was so upset I hung around the locker room until everybody had left. I was too embarrassed to face people. My dad was waiting for me in the empty parking lot. We were leaving town for a vacation, meeting up with the rest of the family in Breckenridge. My dad had a Porsche 911 at the time, which only he drove. I went to get into the car and he threw me the keys. He said, “You drive.” Now, being a 17 year-old, driving that Porsche pretty much put all thoughts of wrestling out of my mind.
What can I say? When you win, everybody’s your friend. When you lose, you find out who your friends really are.
7 Responses to What I Learned from Being a Bad Wrestler
Hey, good one, Brad! I like the lesson on Fortitude best – certainly a great ability to have. (I usually only THINK I have it, right up until the Moment of Truth; then the butterflies get so thick I can hardly stand up.)
Robert, that happens to me, too, of course. But then again, a little adrenalin is a good thing, especially if you can channel it.
Great post. Too bad your Dad was so smart
Brad, what a great post – I’m going to see you in a whole new light now!
Mike, he was, and continues to be. Joanna, maybe I should have stayed in the old light!
Brad,
What a great thing for your Dad to do! He knew that words just wouldn’t cut it at that point–and he knew exactly what would get your mind off the problem! A very wise man!
Thanks for sharing those great life lessons!
Jeanne
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