Discovering A Passion

My son had another fighting tournament.  He's extremely disciplined and competed in the over 18 year old division which meant he'd be fighting older (usually 20 something) guys.

The short version is he had a great day.  He fought 3 fights; the first was won by decision, the second my TKO (technical knock out) and the third, well, let's just say he didn't know what hit him near the end of the second round.  But I did,...a quick left
hook to his head that came out of nowhere to drop him to the ground.  This was the first time that he'd ever been knocked out.  He quickly got up around the count of 7, but as the referee scanned his eye's he made a good call and stopped the fight, 5 seconds before the end of round 2.

While my wife and I have done just about everything to discourage our son's interest in fighting sports, we've come to realize that this is what he loves.  We've come to see that it's what makes him come alive.  It's a testimony to the saying that goes something like; "find something to do with you life that you love and you'll never have to go to "work".

At a deeper level however, Howard Thurman once wrote, "Don't ask yourself what the world needs. Ask yourself what makes you come alive, and go and do that... because what the world needs is men who have come alive."  I think of my son and his fighting passion when I think of this marvelous quote, since, when he trains or fights it seems effortless,...especially on my part.  When training he is imminently focused, more so than when he is doing anything else...like studying in high school. When it comes to virtually anything he may need to do other than this passion, at this stage in his life, I just about need to use a whip and a chair (think lions in the circus) to get him to do it.  But!, he'll joyously taste blood and take rounds of pounding on his body in the ring if the suffering could possibly lead to victory.  When asked by His disciples about why He wasn't eating, Jesus said, "I have food that you don't know about".  I've always taken that to mean, that Jesus had internal resources (vision, faith, determination) that sustained him, even when His body was calling out for physical nourishment.  Far too many men find themselves stuck in situations and jobs that extract all the life from them.

Note the Dad's concern and the son's joy

On another post I may explore why so many men, in particular, are vision less, have little passion and seem to be like "the walking dead".  I think wives and churches have a particular calling and ability to help their husbands  and men enjoy a resurrection of their passions and dreams.



I'm proud of my son and appreciate what he's teaching me.  Thanks for reading.