BEST PRACTICES
Getting Knocked Down
About a month ago, I was with an old friend and found myself watching a women’s UFC fight. I was blown away by what I saw. First off, I am not a fan of violence of any kind, so watching this put me clear outside of my comfort zone. Yet as soon as I began watching it, I couldn’t look away. Oddly, I quickly found myself actually rooting one of the two girls. Don’t ask me why. Until that moment I had no idea who either of them were. But that is not the point here.
The thing that I realized immediately was the agility and strength that these fighters need to have and maintain in order to just stay in the fight. The girl that I was rooting for was clearly winning. She just seemed to have the upper hand. That was when it happened. The other girl punched her so hard that she stumbled back and fell on her butt. I wondered if this would be it and the match would spiral to an ending. However, without flinching she bounced right back up and regained her position. In that pivotal moment when she was pushed down, for her there was no option to stay down. Instead, she forced herself back to her feet because she knew that her opponent was ready to take her down.
That was when it hit me that this fight was so similar to our brains. Life will pummel us with challenges and stun us with challenging life events that feel like they are hitting us square across the face. And it is in that pivotal moment where we have the choice. We can either allow it to totally take us down or bounce right back up immediately and not allow it to totally crush the little bit of momentum that we still have left. The magic really is in bouncing back up. This was such a powerful reminder for me given what I have been struggling with in my own life. Keeping my brain in check and grabbing momentum in my triathlon training is what I need to do to keep going and maintain my stance. The moment I allow my thoughts to run the show is the moment I will be down for the count.
So here’s to all of us remembering the power of determination and doing whatever we can to bounce back!