Never Lose The Fight Within Part III
General Douglas MacArthur said in his good bye address at West Point the following statements-you can read the full address here: Click Here For the Full Address!
But once war is forced upon us, there is no other alternative than to apply every available means to bring it to a swift end. War's very object is victory, not prolonged indecision.
In war there can be no substitute for victory.
General Douglas MacArthur
In my lifetime I have experienced enough challenges to appreciate what we have in this country. I remember coming back to the airport from an 18 month tour of duty in Colombia and landing in Miami. When I walked down the stairs with my duffle bag something compelled me to get down on the ground and kiss it. I did do that.... it is true! I have never not appreciated what I have in life and try to demonstrate to others what life could be like if we don't preserve the core values set up for us by our founding fathers and those that have sacrificed to give us the liberties we have.
I have never gone into anything not wanting to win. That is always my intention. Did it always work out my way; of course not.
I am wondering whether we have lost a significant amount of resolve in the way we do business anymore in our country. I think a lot of it has to do with the affluence that we have, the willingness that some have to let others share the burden of our society.
Unless anyone should forget, we had to fight to set up this country, and we will not be able to sit on our laurels and expect that those out their that wish to destroy our way of life will not to try to take it away from us. If they think we are weak and will not sustain the principles that have gotten us to this point,they will come after us.
What does this have to do with wrestling you ask? To me life is and has been a wrestling match. I really can't imagine going into a wrestling match without the thought in mind of winning.
Does that mean that I always have? Of course not, however; I have never not offered the energy, the will, the resolve not to do so.
In this time in our country's history, not having the resolve to win will be our demise. This is my prediction and I believe strongly in what I am saying.
If we do not teach the intensity, the desire to win, the will to perservere in our sport and others-where do our young men learn it.
I receive weekly if not daily e-mails from young fighting men that I have coached that are currently serving in the military, in Iraq, in Afghanistan and many other places aroung the world.
Most of the time the central theme around the message is: Coach, if you had not instilled in me the motivation, the intensity, the desire to survive I don't think I would have made it through this challenge.
I am not alone in this venture. It is all of you that are working with young men and instilling these traits into them that allows us to be the country that we are and allows these young men to succeed. Which in many cases it means they survive. Sometimes as we read, they do not. I think however; as coaches, we have the opportunity to get these young men going in the right direction.
So beside the scoreboard and beside the wrestling technique we deal with some serious issues, and in my opinion the instilling of leadership principles and core values through our programs is a critical objective.
I don't know about you but I take it seriously. Young men graduate at 17 and 18 years of age and in a year they could be fighting for their lives while serving their country.
I don't know about you but I take this as a personal challenge. Does it drive my program , probably not. I will say this however; I do think about it and I do address it, and I know that those that go through athletic programs come out better than they went in. I am not including the Professional Ranks as I don't believe that is what it used to be in the past. The focus is money and selfishness so I will not include that. I won't paint everyone with the same brush, but I will say to a large degree that is what has happened.
If the kids learn to be leaders through our sport, they can transfer leadership throughout their lives. That is why I love the sport of wrestling, it is a pure sport, kids do it because they love to do it or they love what they get from it or they are proud of having come through the rigors of the training necessary for competition in the sport.
Shakespeare said ...
"Cowards die many times before their deaths; the valiant never
taste of death but once."
Something I put together I guess to inspire myself as much as others, I thought I would share it with you!
I heard a news story yesterday that said that only three per cent of the people in this country are prepared for a natural disaster or a terrorist attack. I don't know what that says to you but I know the impression that it gives me. They don't believe it will happen to them. Bad things happen and in this world we need every advantage we can get. The victims of Hurricane Katrina I am sure did not see that coming or did not believe it. How many of those people on the Bridge in Minnesota last week thought that it would fall in the water, I doubt anyone thought that it would occur. What will it take to wake us up. Bad things do happen, they happen every day, we need to teach our young people to be responsible and to be leaders.
We have drifted so far from the principles set up by our founding fathers that we don't appreciate what we have and are not prepared to make the sacrifices that it takes to keep our country free. Every generation that comes down the pike, appreciates less and less about the fundamental freedoms that we have. The expectations that were set for us are falling by the wayside.
I have done and will always try to do my part in teaching others the importance of leadership, discipline, resilience, core values and the important things in life. It can be done in any forum if the mentors and leaders are willing to do the work.
We have people from every country in the world trying to gain the opportunity to be a part of this nation. I know they are trying to come here as I worked in Embassies and Consulates across the world and I have seen the lines of people waiting for visas to come here.
We also have those people who oppose our freedoms and liberties and do not wish us well. We have to wake up to that. Most people are walking around like we are immune to the damage that some people and groups would like to do to us.
We have our head in the sand and we need to get it out.
I don't carry much weight around here I am just a Citizen of the greatest country in the world, A Father, A Former Marine, A Teacher and Coach who would like to see our children and grandchildren have the same opportunities that we have had. They will not understand what they have if we do not teach them what they have and what is at stake.
I remember coming home from a tour of duty and watching people going around doing their daily duties and having fun and not concerned about the serious things that are taking place in and out of our country. At first I got mad about it, as I just came back from a hazardous tour of duty and I guess I thought people would at least be thinking about what was going on.
Then I thought, No, that is as it should be they should be able to enjoy their lives and their families. Those of us that were taking our turn in serving the country needed to buckle down and do our job, just as those before us had done so that we could grow up with the freedoms that we had to that point.
Now at the ripe old age of almost 61 I think it should be a little of both, We should enjoy our lives and have the freedoms that we have earned; but, we need to understand also the sacrifice that is being made to keep it that way.
If we want it to continue , we have to pay the price. I have always told my students and athletes that nothing much that is worthwhile comes to us at a cheap price. It has to be paid for and sometimes the price is extremely high.
In summary I have said all of this to say that in Athletics and Sports we should be teaching our next generation of leaders , and citizens that they have a legacy that has been paid for with extreme sacrifice and we have to hold it up with a certain amount of appreciation and be willing to help keep it the way it was intended to be.
Press on!
that you could, know in your heart that you always pressed on.
“grappling for excellence”
Coach Bodnar
posted by rockobod at 10:12 AM
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