We Choose to Love Wrestling

As a wrestler and now a coach, I cannot count the number of times I have heard guys say that they "don't love wrestling anymore" or they are "burnt out". These are usually guys who have wrestled most of their life and they can't really justify quitting, but they are looking for a way out. So they create the excuse that they don't love wrestling anymore. They phrase it in many different ways, but they are all saying the same thing. "It's not my fault I want to quit. I just don't love it anymore and there is nothing I can do about it".

The mindset that love can just come and go as it pleases is extremely problematic, especially later on in life when there are much bigger issues than wrestling. You hear the same thing come from married men and women... "I just don't love him/her anymore". People want a way out, so they blame it on love or lack thereof. It is a massive cop out.

A popular wedding passage reads "Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres." (1 Corinthians 13:4-7)

Notice, nothing in this verse has anything to do with feelings. It doesn't say "love is patient when it feels like it". No. Love is patient all the time no matter how it feels. If I waited for a warm fuzzy feeling to come over me before being kind to my wife, my marriage would not be doing so hot...

It is the same way with wrestling. We will not always feel like loving wrestling, and that is okay. Love is not a feeling, love is action. When we choose to love something or someone we treat it a certain way regardless of our feelings. I sometimes say "don't do what you love, love what you do". As a wrestler, wrestling is what you do, so if you don't already, start choosing to love it. That means never go through the motions in practice even when you are tired, always do the right things off the mat even when your friends don't, and have fun! This sport is awesome!