I have made my choices over the years. I took the risks and with those risks came the sacrifices. I have always backed myself to win. The confidence and shear attitude created wins far beyond my ability, as most of these wins are what I describe as locker room wins. Needless to say, I didn’t make many friends or respect from my peers. My ability to get inside my opponents heads coupled with aggression was beyond belief as I set out on what at that time was unparalleled, the youngest ever to mount my personal Everest and like a toddler I ran with no idea as to the dangers that could take me out at any moment.
The glory that I bathed in, I shared with my friends and how the number swelled. My friends grew so quickly, seemingly overnight, Many I hadn’t known that long, They grovelled at my feet and feed me lies I loved to hear, I lapped it up and for a while I lived on the carcases that I had slain along the way. Little did I know that my sycophants would jump ship like rats as soon as there was a sign that the success was subsiding.
Yes I did what was necessary and it wasn’t always pretty, but a win was a win and I burnt those bridges along the way. I burnt them all with extreme prejudice. No one told me that one day I would be old and I was so self involved it never popped up on my radar system. I thought I was bullet proof. Then one day I found myself to be half a step slower that everyone else. It seemed to have happen overnight. I had lost my edge! The one thing that made me different. The number of friends was slowly dwindling. The reality check rocked up and its arrival was very inconvenient. I had chosen to ignore it! But it continued to tap me on the shoulder. Hey dude! I’ve come to take my share of the glory!” Now it hit me like a freight train. I was in a free fall as I tail spun out of control. The bridges I’d burnt were obvious. They were all there with their backs facing me in the aftermath. I knew they had the sweet taste of revenge. My attitude was the cancer that had slowly eaten me away on the inside.
It was only now did I understand the real consequences of the sacrifices I had made. Before I knew it 1 bad day grew to two and before long the discipline and belief had petered out along with the dream. The loneliness was claustrophobic. The silence was deafening. It all started by missing the odd raining session here and there. The lack of training eventually court up with me. I wasn’t putting in like before that passion was traded in for comfort. The team slowly moved on. My pride had been infiltrated. The gigs got further and further apart and I had drop further and further down the billing. A broken down prize fighter who was barely recognisable from the glory days.
I had now travelled full circle! The sacrifice, oh how they haunted me. I had trained on the pain theory, no pain – no Gain / Pain is only temporary – winners live forever /etc........... I had no idea of the pain I was to face when all the remnants of whom I was where gone. This pain is not like anything I had ever felt before. I had experience my share of losses and they hurt. They hurt a lot and it took time to get over it, but the pain of losing my identity, nothing can prepare you for that. My identity was gone and after a life of sacrifices to achieve what I wanted I had nothing to show for it. I know you can put an old head on young shoulder, but you must now understand. These sacrifices don’t have to define your life, as you can have it all. This is what I need to impart on you. YOU DO NOT HAVE TO MAKE SACRIFICES. You can have it all. Yeah priorities must be in pace, But not at the risk of the things that go into who you are. Education, friends, family and time to yourself. You wouldn’t sacrifice these things for a 9 – 5 job, so why must you for your dreams.
The mistakes of one person’s life can help others to avoid the same mistakes again. Unfortunately we all continue to make the same mistakes as our forefathers, Why? ??????
The glory that I bathed in, I shared with my friends and how the number swelled. My friends grew so quickly, seemingly overnight, Many I hadn’t known that long, They grovelled at my feet and feed me lies I loved to hear, I lapped it up and for a while I lived on the carcases that I had slain along the way. Little did I know that my sycophants would jump ship like rats as soon as there was a sign that the success was subsiding.
Yes I did what was necessary and it wasn’t always pretty, but a win was a win and I burnt those bridges along the way. I burnt them all with extreme prejudice. No one told me that one day I would be old and I was so self involved it never popped up on my radar system. I thought I was bullet proof. Then one day I found myself to be half a step slower that everyone else. It seemed to have happen overnight. I had lost my edge! The one thing that made me different. The number of friends was slowly dwindling. The reality check rocked up and its arrival was very inconvenient. I had chosen to ignore it! But it continued to tap me on the shoulder. Hey dude! I’ve come to take my share of the glory!” Now it hit me like a freight train. I was in a free fall as I tail spun out of control. The bridges I’d burnt were obvious. They were all there with their backs facing me in the aftermath. I knew they had the sweet taste of revenge. My attitude was the cancer that had slowly eaten me away on the inside.
It was only now did I understand the real consequences of the sacrifices I had made. Before I knew it 1 bad day grew to two and before long the discipline and belief had petered out along with the dream. The loneliness was claustrophobic. The silence was deafening. It all started by missing the odd raining session here and there. The lack of training eventually court up with me. I wasn’t putting in like before that passion was traded in for comfort. The team slowly moved on. My pride had been infiltrated. The gigs got further and further apart and I had drop further and further down the billing. A broken down prize fighter who was barely recognisable from the glory days.
I had now travelled full circle! The sacrifice, oh how they haunted me. I had trained on the pain theory, no pain – no Gain / Pain is only temporary – winners live forever /etc........... I had no idea of the pain I was to face when all the remnants of whom I was where gone. This pain is not like anything I had ever felt before. I had experience my share of losses and they hurt. They hurt a lot and it took time to get over it, but the pain of losing my identity, nothing can prepare you for that. My identity was gone and after a life of sacrifices to achieve what I wanted I had nothing to show for it. I know you can put an old head on young shoulder, but you must now understand. These sacrifices don’t have to define your life, as you can have it all. This is what I need to impart on you. YOU DO NOT HAVE TO MAKE SACRIFICES. You can have it all. Yeah priorities must be in pace, But not at the risk of the things that go into who you are. Education, friends, family and time to yourself. You wouldn’t sacrifice these things for a 9 – 5 job, so why must you for your dreams.
The mistakes of one person’s life can help others to avoid the same mistakes again. Unfortunately we all continue to make the same mistakes as our forefathers, Why? ??????
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