Today, more than ever before, the principals learned through the sport of wrestling must be applied to life.
I am amazed at the disparity in the quality of life between wrestlers who have applied the principals they learned on the mat to their life off the mat to those who didn’t.
The wrestlers who didn’t never seemed to use their resources to propel them into life to be able to handle the adversities life would throw at them.
They seemed to be beaten by the exact principles wrestling taught.
How ironic, the very people who lived the principles on the mat didn’t apply them off the mat.
I have been blessed with the understanding that wrestling is much more than a sport, it is a lifestyle.
That has been invaluable to my life.
It has made such a difference in the quality of my life.
So much so, that I feel compelled to share the principles that I’ve learned.
Question: Who would win in a fight between a lion and a shark?
Some would say the lion as he rules the land.
Some would say the shark, the predator of the sea.
Answer: It would depend on where the fight would take place - either on land or in the sea.
Imagine if the shark chose to fight the lion on land.
Or if the lion chose to fight the shark in the sea?
Sounds silly right.
But it happens in almost every wrestling match.
You have qualities, moves, and positions where you rule.
Your opponent will have different qualities, moves, and positions where he will dominate.
The victor will be the wrestler who was able to wrestle in the environment which best suits him, be it land or sea.
If you rule the land, wrestle on the land.
If you rule the sea, wrestle in the sea.
Why Dominate?
We have all seen the contest where a person in a bank vault has a limited amount of time to grab as much money as possible.
If it were you, would you stop grabbing money after you had “just enough” in your hands?
Would you stop grabbing money when there were only 60 seconds left?
Would you ever be too tired to keep grabbing more money? Obviously, not. Why?
Because the reward of what that money can do for you overrides any of the reasons to stop.
A wrestling match is the same type of contest.
You need to have the same kind of mindset.
To a wrestler, points are money.
In each match, you have 360 seconds to score as many points as possible.
When the whistle blows, the allure of scoring points must override any and all obstacles.
We spend 8 hours a day, for 10 months a year, for nearly 17 years, sending our kids to school to prepare them for life. In all of that time, there is never a course on sacrifice, on goal setting, on perseverance, on overcoming adversity, on being a great teammate. I guess that is what the sport of WRESTLING Is for.
One of the greatest assets in my life, other than my family and friends has been the sport of wrestling.
It has made me into the person I am today.
A person who can handle whatever adversity life throws at me.
I owe a great deal to this sport, that is why I write about it passionately.
This book is a collection of my writing on this great sport.
They call it "The Greatest Sport on Earth" for a reason. It just took me 26 years to figure out why.
If you live long enough, life will throw you to your back. And when it does, you're much better off if you've wrestled.
You learn later in life how vital the disciplines of wrestling are, especially against a seemingly insurmountable opponent in a disease or illness.
"6 Minutes Wrestling with Life" is much more than a wrestling book.
It is a book on life, love, loss and belief.
Get ready to laugh, cry, smile and think.
You will never look at life the same way again.
There are going to be many occasions where you are faced with giving up, where the normal person would not hold it against you for stopping, where almost everyone would give you a pat on the back for a valiant effort.
The ability to muster up a little more when the whole world would understand if you quit is a great characteristic to possess in wrestling and in life. If you live long enough, life will throw you to your back, and when it does, you are going to need to be able to reach deep down to not get pinned, to get up and to win.
"Again" is the sequel to "6 Minutes Wrestling with Life."
Every experience we go through in life is to prepare us for what is to come in our lives. To teach us the life lessons we need so we can be best prepared to handle our ultimate test, somewhere in the future. I believe, our lives are an accumulation of life lessons that can only be learned by personal experience, to be completely understood. Reading a life lesson, or someone lecturing you about one, pales in comparison to experiencing it first hand. I believe that. I believe the best way to teach someone something is to make that person think they are learning something else. I believe the universe does that to us.It takes us on goals and missions in our lives that we believe are the most important things to us at the time. It does this to teach us lessons we need to experience and learn, so we can successfully execute them when our real mission in life finally confronts us.I believe, if you listen, your soul will whisper to you. Trust it. Act on it
Every Breath is Gold - 4th Book
Synchronicity + Serendipity + Divine Intervention + The Universe = Strange Angels.
I started writing Strange Angels in 2016, and like with all the books I have ever written, at specific points in the writing process, I knew an event hadn’t happened yet, which was crucial to my finishing this book.
With 99% of the book complete, I knew something was missing.
So, I listened to my soul, and I gave it some space.
Strange Angels is about how the people you meet in your life are for a specific reason.
It is about how real-life events often simultaneously occur in your life to either renew your spirit or to answer a problem you have been trying to solve on your own, but haven’t.
It is about stillness and plateaus and listening to your soul.
I finished writing Strange Angels during the 2020 Coronavirus Pandemic, with the whole world shut down.
Seeing the world in solitude, social distancing, and understanding who and what is essential in life was the event I needed to experience to finish writing this book.
I understand the importance of interactions with people, the need to live life, of seeing the world, of knowing the effect we all have on one another, and that the invisible can be very powerful.
I know more than anything else in this world when a life-changing event simplifies your life when it brings it to a standstill; it also gives you a gift; the ability to hear your soul.
Your soul is always there for you, just on most days, life's noise drowns it out.
When you strip away the noise of the world, one's soul becomes audible.
The opportunity to clear the air, to be able to listen to our souls, is a gift.
When we hear and listen to our souls, we are aligned.
Life in soul alignment is the most valuable time in our lives.
It is in soul alignment that the Divine orchestrates our journey.
There is nothing more important.
It is the Divinely orchestrated journey of our soul.
So often, we make plans without ever listening to our soul, and we wonder why those plans peter out at some point.
It is only after experiencing a life-changing event, where all we have or ever worked for is washed away in an instant, that we realize we are most rich.
For, an extraordinary gift has been given to us.
The gift is the clear audible pathway to hear our soul.
I believe it is when we are in alignment with our soul that Strange Angels guide us to the next Divine dot in our lives.
I have often tried to define what success is in life.
I have concluded success for me, is living a life that is in alignment with my soul no matter life's circumstances; to recognize the people who speak to my soul, to partake in actions that make the sound of my soul louder, to trust in the process of life.
When I do, I believe I am living successfully.
To be able to recognize the Strange Angels your soul sends into your life, you must be aligned with your soul.
Sometimes, it takes a life-changing event, like a world pandemic, to become soul-aligned.
So be it.
Welcome the Strange Angels in your life.
Recognize when you are among them.
Allow them to guide you to your next Divine dot.
For, when the Divine dots of your life eventually all become connected, the portrait and true purpose of your life is revealed.
It takes a lifetime to understand the importance of letting people know how much they mean to you.
There are times when you meet someone who winds up making a big difference in your life. In the way, you think, how you act, whom you have become.
And despite time or their absence, a piece of them continue to live inside of you.
My life has bounced between the extremes of exhilarating and excruciating many times, but no matter where my life is in my life’s cycle the impact this one man has had on it has always been quite evident.
A Good Man has that effect on you, even if he is not perfect.
In the Eye of the Storm is a collection of inspirational stories, poems, and thoughts on converting adversity, loss, and grief into a newfound perspective on life.
