Here is a quote from a book called Rules for Radicals by Saul Alinsky. The book itself has nothing to do with wrestling or even athletics, but I found this passage particularly inspiring. He illustrates better than I can the concept of Jumping Levels through his image of a mountain. Matt Valenti (2x NCAA Champion) says he pictures The Comfort Zone as a box to be stretched; I picture it as a mountain, waiting to be climbed. Enjoy the hike.
“If we think of the struggle as a climb up a mountain, then we must visualize a mountain with no top. We see a top, but when we finally reach it, the overcast rises and we find ourselves merely on a bluff. The mountain continues on up. We now see the “real” top ahead of us, and strive for it, only to find we’ve reached another bluff, the top still above us. And so it goes on, interminably.
Knowing that the mountain has no top, that it is a perpetual quest from plateau to plateau, the question arises, “Why the struggle, the conflict, the heartbreak, the danger, the sacrifice. Why the constant climb?” Our answer is the same as that which a real mountain climber gives when he is asked why he does what he does. “Because it’s there.” Because life is there ahead of you and either one tests oneself in its challenges or huddles in the valleys in a dreamless day-to-day existence whose only purpose is the preservation of an illusory security and safety. The latter is what the vast majority of people choose to do, fearing the adventure into the unknown. Paradoxically, they give up the dream of what may lie ahead on the heights of tomorrow for a perpetual nightmare—an endless succession of days fearing the loss of a tenuous security.”
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Have you read The Myth of Sisyphus by Camus? Or The Fountainhead by Ayn Rand?
If you haven’t read The Fountainhead… read it. Although it’s a long book, her philosophy is incredible and extremely relevant to your post. It may be the most inspiring book I’ve ever read.
Camus though… Camus is a difficult read and it’s very difficult to contemplate. He presents an argument (similar to the above post) with a negative twist. It’s important to read because it forces us to reconsider our original position and hopefully gain a deeper understanding of our goals…and existence. Be careful though, suicide is the central theme of the book.
Here’s a quote from Camus: “The principle can be established that for a man who does not cheat, what he believes to be true must determine his action.” Good stuff…
The Fountainhead is one of my favorite books. Her vision of a man driven by passions and undeterred by the crushing force of the world is very powerful. It echoes to the force within us all to pursue a dream.
Wrestlers put in more sweat, blood, and tears than any other sport, and we get no monuments or signing bonuses. Like Roark, we chase our passion with undying determination, not letting our success be defined by society.
I have not read TMOS, but check this. I originally wanted put a longer passage in the post above, but I cut it down, not wanting to bore the piss out of readers.
Here is the rest of the passage:
“Unlike the chore of the mythic Sisyphus, this challenge is not an endless pushing up of a boulder to the top of a hill, only to have it roll back again, the chore to be repeated eternally. It is pushing the boulder up an endless mountain, but, unlike Sisyphus, we are always going further upward, And also unlike Sisyphus, each stage of the trail upward is different, newly dramatic, an adventure each time.
At times we do fall back and become discouraged, but it is not that we are making no progress. Simply, this is the very nature of life—that it is a climb—and that the resolutions of each issue in turn creates other issues, born of plights which are unimaginable today. The pursuit of happiness is never-ending; happiness lies in the pursuit.”
That’s cool…
Camus and other Existentialists were difficult for me to read… but I do think it’s beneficial, maybe even necessary, in the development a truly comprehensive mind… and, in turn, body and spirit. That sounds so corny when I write it down… but I think it’s true.
Camus screwed me up for while…like reading American Psycho and Fight Club and Underworld. It wasn’t until I read further that I learned about another plateau and gained a broader perspective of understanding. I hope anyways… maybe it’s all bullshit and I just took interest in something new… who knows. Existentialism sucks. An absurd life is daunting and bleak… and it’s bad for wrestlers. If you’re an existentialist (and I think a lot of people are… even if they are unaware of the term) plenty of terribleness can be rationalized and it is very hard to become motivated. Why dedicate yourself to anything if there’s no point?
The Fountainhead presents a philosophy that is a step up, a new level from existentialism. “A man driven by passions and undeterred by the crushing force of the world”… the internal drive. I believe this is the philosophical level that most high-quality wrestlers subscribe. But this too is incomplete (in my opinion). Rand focuses on the Ego (see Anthem). Objectivism and individualism are not far from existentialism… she is an atheist. Whatever.
But I think there are higher levels… I think this is why I like your blog. You have been hinting at this stuff in your writing. It’s cool. I have recently been reading some integral philosophers: Richard Tarnas, Ken Wilbur, de Chardin, etc. This stuff is mind blowing… it literally changes the way we think and understand. Presence and awareness… suffering and enlightenment. These are the concepts that the greatest wrestlers… the greatest people believe in and practice. This is the work of excellence… the top of the mountain.
Wait you guys don’t think that WIN magazine is the single greatest contribution to literature from the English language?
Get Real.