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Motivation

More enduringly than any other sport, wrestling teaches self-control and pride. Some have wrestled without great skill - none have wrestled without pride.
Dan Gable

Once you've wrestled, everything else in life is easy.
Dan Gable

The 1st period is won by the best technician. The 2nd period is won by the kid in the best shape. The 3rd period is won by the kid with the biggest heart.
Dan Gable

I shoot, I score. He shoots, I score.
Dan Gable

The only thing you deserve is what you earn.
Tom Brands

Hard work beats talent, when talent doesn't work hard.

"Gold medals aren't really made of gold. They're made of sweat, determination, and a hard-to-find alloy called guts."
Dan Gable

Winners make a decision to win.

Missing the first workout is like telling a lie - the next one comes easier.

The time will come when winter will ask you what you were doing all summer.

Don't let people convince you that winning is not that important. What they fail to tell you is that since they can't win, they don't want you to win either.

Champion wrestlers are made by planning their seasons and careers around a framework of 8 building blocks: diet, nutrition, conditioning, technique, weight training, mental preparation, drilling, and natural talent.

You've got to learn to control your emotions before you can control your opponent.

Its not whether you get knocked down, its whether you get up.

All success stories begin with a dream.

Second place is the first loser.

In the middle of difficulty lies opportunity.

The harder you work, the luckier you get.

Success lies in determination, dedication, and discipline.

Your will to prepare to win is just as important as your will to win.

The good thing about pain is it lets you know you're still alive.

If you're afraid to fail, you'll never succeed.

When you're hurt you can play. When you're injured you can't.

If you're not going to practice, don't dream.

Achievement is largely the product of steadily raising one's level of aspiration and expectation.

Win with grace, and lose with grace.

Practice without improvement is meaningless.

You are never better than anyone else until you do something to prove it. When you are really good, you never need to tell anyone. They will tell you.

The superior man blames himself. The inferior man blames others.

When you win, say nothing. When you lose, say less.

Practice does not make perfect. Practice of perfection makes perfect.

You should hate losing more than you like winning.

Most men stop when they begin to tire. Good men go until they think they are going to collapse. BUT, the VERY BEST know the mind tires before the body and push themselves further and further beyond all limits. Only when all these limits are shattered can the unattainable be reached.

You never fail at anything until you stop trying.

What you lack in talent can be made up with desire and hard work.

You're only as good as your competition.

Don't let a win get to your head or a loss get to your heart.

The only place you can start at the top is digging a hole.


I WRESTLE

Not simply with my opponent
I wrestle with my demons of doubt,
With my past failures,
With my exhaustion and my injuries.
With my unrelenting voice,
That tells me to stop.
But my heart won't let me,
Because I am a wrestler.
One thing will always be certain.
I will be victorious.


Winners Are People like you

Winners take chances

Like everyone else, they fear failing,

but they refuse to let fear control them

Winners don't give up.

When life gets rough, they hang in

until the going gets better.

Winners are flexible.

They realize there is more than one way

and are willing to try others.

Winners know they are not perfect.

They respect their weaknesses

while making the most of their strengths

Winners fall, but they don't stay down.

They stubbornly refuse to let a fall

keep them from climbing.

Winners don't blame fate for their failures

nor luck for their successes.

Winners Accept responsibility

for their lives.

Winners are positive thinkers

Who see good in all things.

From the ordinary, they make the

the extraordinary .

Winners believe in the path they

have chosen

Even when it's hard,

Even when others can't see

where they are going.

Winners are patient.

They know a goal is only as worthy

as the effort that's required

to achieve it.

Winners are people like you.

They make the world

a better place to be.

Nancye Sims


A Wrestler's Biggest Fan

By Jo-Ann Innis

That's my little boy

Mat two

He's on deck

He's the one who tries to look so confident

While I sit here a wreck

I sit watching nervously

Biting my nails and shaking in my seat

Praying for a victory and not a quick defeat

Please don't let him be hurt

Please let him be all right

After all this is why he practices so hard

Almost every night

I'll just suffer through it and give him my support

Wondering why sometimes, he ever chose this sport

But when it's finally over and he makes it through "the three"

Nothing can beat the look on his face

That look of VICTORY!

The look that says "I did it, hey mom did you see?"

And when the ref holds up his hand

I know why he chose this sport

And when the victory goes the other way

I still give him my support

There's always next time as long as you try

A mom never fails to say

You're always a champion in my eyes son, and you'll always be that way

A mom is a wrestler's biggest fan

Cause she knows what's in his heart

She knows his dedication and how he tries so hard

It's hard for a mom to sit and watch

As her son gets pinned

And it's hard not to get emotional as you watch your baby win

Seeing his eyes search for you while you're sitting in the stands

Making sure you saw every move turn out just the way he planned

Because every wrestler knows

That his mom is his biggest fan!


21 Steps for Success by H. Jackson Brown, Jr.

Marry the right person. This one decision will determine 90% of your happiness or misery.

Work at something you enjoy and that's worthy of your time and effort.

Give people more than they expect and do it cheerfully.

Become the most positive and enthusiastic you know.

Be forgiving of yourself and others.

Be generous.

Have a grateful heart.

Persistence, persistence, persistence.

Discipline yourself to save money on even the most modest salary.

Treat everyone you meet like you want to be treated.

Commit yourself to constant improvement.

Commit yourself to quality.

Understand that happiness is not based on possessions, power or prestige, but on relationships with people you love and respect.

Be loyal.

Be honest.

Be a self-starter.

Be decisive even if it means you'll sometimes be wrong.

Stop blaming others. Take responsibility for every area of your life.

Be bold and courageous. When you look back on your life, you'll regret the things you didn't do more than the ones you did.

Take good care of those you love.

Don't do anything that wouldn't make your Mom proud.


Tough people require tough lifestyles

At the age of seven, every male Spartan was sent to military and athletic school. These schools taught toughness, discipline, endurance of pain (often severe pain), and survival skills. At twenty, after thirteen years of training, the Spartan became a soldier. The Spartan soldier spent his life with his fellow soldiers; he lived in barracks and ate all his meals with his fellow soldiers.

Very few places in American Society can provide an environment to toughen the human body and mind. That's where wrestling comes in. A young wrestler is like a Spartan. In his early years he is taught toughness, discipline, endurance of pain and a work ethic unmatched in any other sport. As he gets older he spends time training, traveling, eating (and not eating), and staying in the same quarters with fellow his wrestlers. He will sacrifice things, which appear abnormal to other Americans, such as dieting and going without water, while still having to train with an extreme amount of intensity. He learns the lessons of sacrifice; they give him a better understanding of the sufferings of the world outside of America. It teaches him that life is not easy, but the human body and mind can endure while under stress and pain. The sport teaches the body and mind to endure the unavoidable stress and adversity that life hands them.

Wrestling is one of the last places in American society that molds Spartans.


The Carpenter

This passage was given to me by the nurse who cared for my mother during the final year of her life. It was something that I have shared with many people over the past two years. It is anonymous, so I am unsure who developed the piece:

An elderly carpenter was ready to retire. He told his employer-contractor of his plans to leave the house-building business and live a more leisurely life with his wife and extended family. He would miss the paycheck, but needed to retire. They could get by. The contractor was sorry to see his good worker go and asked if he could build just one more house as a personal favor. The carpenter said yes, but in time it was easy to see that his heart was not in his work. He resorted to shoddy workmanship and used inferior materials. It was an unfortunate way to end a dedicated career.

When the carpenter finished his work, the employer came to inspect the house. He handed the front-door key to the carpenter. "This is your house," he said, "my gift to you." The carpenter was shocked! What a shame! If he had only known he was building his own house, he would have done it all differently. So it is with us. We build our lives, a day at a time, often putting less than our best into the building. Then with a shock we realize we have to live in the house we have built. If we could do it over, we'd do it much differently. But we cannot go back.

You are the carpenter. Each day you hammer a nail, place a board, or erect a wall. "Life is a do-it-yourself project," someone once said. Your attitudes and the choices you make today build the "house" you live in tomorrow. Build wisely!

Work like you don't need the money.
Love like you've never been hurt.
Dance like nobody is watching.