PERSONAL GOLIATHS AND HOW TO SLAY THEM

My first personal Goliaths, like most everyone growing up with parents, were my parents.

I knew they were unslayable from the start.

One because they were giants most of my early life, and two, they were my parents. What are you thinking?

Besides, my dad had been a Marine Drill Instructor and my mom was a DMV demon, but a good demon.

I’d wish anyone luck with them in their prime.

What did I do about my parents?

I let them support me and encourage me and teach me until I knew better.

Then I Did Better

The learning curves of school and sports crossed in 10th grade.

I was a middling student and a slightly above average athlete when I got hurt in football practice and my season ended.

My choice was healing and trying out for high school basketball since I played freshman year, or quit all sports and do something else, anything. Those losing was taking a toll.

Quitting had a nice ring to it.

The football team played one losing season after another and the basketball team followed the same tradition.

What do you do when you’re hurt, the teams are losing, and you feel like there’s nothing you can do to change?

I planned on signing up for shop classes and art classes and more English and history classes. I’d stay late so shop and art would replace practice after school and I real all weekend.

But first I figured I owed it to myself to give sports one last half-hearted shot.

Personal Goliaths In The Wrestling Room

I walked up the stairs of a sweaty old-school PE building with locker rooms on the bottom, a uneven basketball court on top, and a wrestling room in the basement, which was actually street level but felt like a basement.

The pre-season wrestling practice was full of kids I’d seen around school doing things I’d never seen, and doing it with such grace. It was as close to ‘Another World’ as I’ve ever walked into.

So I stuck around for the season, then the next.

That’s when I was given the role of ‘fresh meat’. The wrestling team we faced in the biggest home match of the year had a big guy that beat everyone else on the team.

The guy looked like Goliaths should look, even worse. And he was so angry. He wanted a resume match against some of our ranked guys, not some stand-in nobody from nowhere.

He wanted a match against the best competition and he got me instead when his coach shuffled their weight classes. Their heavyweight hammer dropped to 191, the 191 pounder went heavy, and they put their leg guy at 178 lbs.

Up until then they’d all beat me and the hammer beat them, which is why I went out at 191 to face a bundle of fury I didn’t quite understand. It was a huffing, snorting, foot stomping bundle of fury looking right at me like everything was my fault.

And he was hungry after cutting from heavyweight to 191 lbs for nothing.

When we shook hands in the middle of the mat he threw my hand back so hard I hit myself in the face.

The ref blew his whistle, one thing led to another, and like David with his sling I somehow won. The fresh meat aged a little under those lights.

There’s nothing half-hearted about facing a personal Goliaths.

I’ve been riding that night ever since.

Slaying Goliaths A Little At A Time

What I’m talking about when I say Goliath is an obstacle in your life that’s taking you down.

Ask a few questions.

Could it really take you down? Yes.

Could you get back up? Maybe.

Should you do something to avoid the whole thing? Yes.

For many Baby Boomers, good health is an obstacle. When pills aren’t enough, when surgery isn’t enough, then what?

Take a look around for starters. Do you see people you’d disappoint if you didn’t make a good effort to get better, to fight the good fight?

Then make a good fight. Choke down those fears, fresh meat.

Do you see people who need you in their life, even if they don’t know it?

Then be strict with yourself and find balance. Showing balance creates calm, and who doesn’t like calm?

Balance is what your blogger is working on a week and a half after hip replacement.

One. Step. At. A. Time.

First a walker, then a cane, then off to the races. You want to try me?

(I finished college with a History degree and bought a table saw, so I did it all.)