6 Minutes Wrestling with Life

There Is An Open Circle

There are 86,400 seconds in a day
It's up to you to decide what to do with them.

It has been one hundred and eight hours since BettyJane or I have slept. Unless you count sitting upright in a chair, closing your eyes for a few moments and using the wall as a pillow, as sleep.

Mentally I am rejuvenated; physically I am breaking down.

I have a deep chest cold coming on; I fear that it is bronchitis.

BettyJane and I decide I should get to a doctor to take care of it right away, and stay away until I am fine. That means she would need to spend the next 48 hours at the hospital by herself. That would take her up to one hundred and fifty-six hours straight at the hospital.

I feel horrible I can't stay, but it is the right move.

I hug BettyJane and I head out back into the world.

My first stop is at Dr. Iwai's office for an antibiotic for myself.

He sees me without an appointment and asks me about my wife and my family. I fill him in on the events that have transpired and his face wrinkles in sadness. He has a special relationship with my wife – he just loves her innocence. I see true sadness in his eyes as I leave his office, prescription in hand.

I have this overwhelming feeling I should be doing more right now.

There has to be something that I could be doing to improve the situation.

I am so tired.

I hear in my head "There is an open circle." And my wrestler's mentality takes over.

You see twenty-six years ago, when I was in high school, my goal and mission in life was to win a New York State Wrestling Championship.

I committed myself to a lifestyle, made the sacrifices, put in the time, starved myself, shaved my head, I had the hunger, the desire and the determination, but I came up short.

For many years, after I graduated it seemed like I got nothing out of my six years of total dedication to the sport. That the trade off of what I gave and what I got in return to this sport was way out of whack.

I hated wrestling for it.

To put every ounce of your soul into achieving something and to get nothing out of it in return was beyond my comprehension and I just could not justify it in my head.

Until, I had adversity in my life.

And slowly but surely, I started realizing how much the sport of wrestling actually has given back to me. Much more than I ever knew.

When life throws you to your back, you need to know how not to get pinned, get off of your back and do enough to make up the difference in order to win.

"There is an open circle."

This mantra keeps ringing in my ears.

In order to achieve the results, you want, you need to do the things others are not wiling or able to do.

"There is an open circle."

This mantra is what my high school coaches would say to me during wrestling practice when they knew I was physically exhausted and was about to rest for a moment. There was an open circle on the wrestling mat, and if I was interested I could get out there and do more.

"There is an open circle."

Meaning there is still more that you could do. Don't rest now; this is where the difference is made. To work when you are mentally and physically exhausted gets you to the next level.

"There is an open circle."

When I heard those words back in high school, I would immediately ignore my fatigue and realize there was still more I could do.

"There is an open circle."

No time for rest.

It is time to get back to work.