Ever been in a fist-fight...tough guy?

No, not a real bar-fight type thing (been in too many of those myself), but a tough day at work where it seemed all the odds were against you and you just had to "fight" to make it to the end of the day? Where, no matter what you did, it seemed like "they" were coming at you from all directions? Where, no matter what you did, it just seemed like you couldn't win??? And where, when you came home, you felt like you were in a bar-fight all day long (with a City BUS!)?? Ever have one of those days?

I've always said days like that draw upon the "long muscles" in your body, the muscles which make you stand back up after you get knocked down...no matter what. It's about "character" and "moxy", it is the fabric of the being.

A hockey player may get knocked down 20 times a game, but gets up skating. A lineman gets knocked down every play, but gets back up for the next play. (I played both, but this isn't about me). When you grow up, getting knocked down becomes harder, especially professionally. It's harder to get up and skate again, like nothing happened. There was a time when you could pull the grass from your helmet, or shake off the shock of the impact on the ice, but we were young then; It didn't hurt as much. You got up and played for the goal.

The rules we all played by in those days were "fair" for the most part. And then there's this sudden realization you just got hip-checked by your own teammate, who didn't really care about the goal, but his own preservation. The sudden realization you just got a chop-block from a guy who just didn't care about anything more than him/(her) self. It make getting up a little harder...I don't care who you are.

So, have you ever been in a true fist fight? Sometimes when the gloves come off, it's not what you expect. It takes a different kind of "long muscle" to fight then, and the stakes are far higher...they're everything; family, honor, future. No longer is it just skating backwards into the boards to catch a breath, shake it off and get back in the game. No, this is a different mental fortitude, and every fiber of your being is alive.

You can win, you can lose, or you can just be lost in the noise of mediocrity and middle of the road.

Sometimes you have to reach down deep and find that same 'player' who got up and got back into the game, no matter what; it's a different game, but the rules haven't changed all that much.

It's still about being able to get back up again...no matter how hard.

It's what makes life fun.

Indiana white trash here, and I'm used to it.

When things go smoothly for too long, I get worried. I feel like it's the calm before the storm.

Business is business and you're there to tear the other guy's heart out....or just let them run over you and get to the top over your corpse. [ figuratively speaking ].
Work friends is all well and good....but business is business and that's where the gloves come off. Get back up, shoulder block his ass and get to the top standing on his body.

a reply to: DAVID64

Oh, not to worry; this wasn't about a bad day for me (thought I may have had one), but more a realization of how I look around me sometimes and see people just go down one time and fear getting up.

Only the survivors get up and keep fighting. It's a mindset. Some get up and head for the bench, thinking about revenge out in the parking lot (those are lost). Others get up, and stay in the game...never mind the odds, play to the last buzzer.

It's all about HEART.

Not big on self analysis....but im a tenacious mofo. Like a bulldog, i don't quit. Ever.

Sometimes things seem impossible, like there's no win, but if you keep pushing, never letting up, chipping off one piece at a time, systematically dismantling the obstacle in front of you, things get surprisingly easier.

a reply to: Flyingclaydisk

Only the survivors get up and keep fighting. It's a mindset. Some get up and head for the bench, thinking about revenge out in the parking lot (those are lost). Others get up, and stay in the game...never mind the odds, play to the last buzzer.

That is also good advice for a poker player

a reply to: bigfatfurrytexan

Bulldogs always win, they may not be the biggest dog in the fight, but they never give up. This is what I'm talking about.

I've been known to tell a story of playing football in college. I redshirted as a freshman, but as a sophomore they used to have a thing they called "Hamburger Squad" where at the end of every practice they ran the 1st string offense against the 'Hamburger Squad' Defense. I was a defensive end. I was (am) 6'4' and 265 and at the top of my game (I thought), just bulletproof.

There was a guy who lived on my dorm floor named Dell "Popcorn" Rogers. Absolutely great guy. He'd been an all-conference NCAA running back for two years. It was his last year. (He went on to play for Green Bay).

The ball snapped, and the play was around my side. Dell wasn't really a big guy, but he was fast. I figured if I could get him in my grip (anywhere) I'd make some points because I'd bring him down. The whole thing happened in slow motion. He didn't cut, head fake, just put his head down and came straight at me. For a split second I had visions of finally making a starter. He FLATTENED me! I've never been hit so hard in all my life!! Ran right over me. I was shocked! I think his helmet hit my breast plate, and the back of my helmet hit the turf...just flattened.

Later Dell told me he never hit anything so solid, he thought he broke his neck. It was a great play, and a great education (for me). I realized in that moment the commitment it took to go to the "big show".

To this day I still can't believe how hard that dude hit me! It was like being hit by a garbage truck at 50mph. I used to pride myself on always staying on my feet, but I didn't that day.

In football there's this saying; you play the game to make your opponent look for you...every play. Dell confided in me later, despite the hit, he was looking to see where I was after the snap. He ran me over on that play, but it was piece of mind to know at least I made him look.

It's that kind of stuff which gives you "heart".

No one ever ran over me again in the rest of my years. Dell went on to the Pros. I was done in my Senior year (back and left knee). But I left the game with a profound understanding of undying commitment and heart, enough to last a lifetime!

GO UTES!!!

Yes. Though it has been years since I had the pleasure. In each instance it was a last option for me.

I'm like BFFT above. I never let it go. Physical or not, if I have been done wrong... I do not ever forget it. By the time I have reached that point, they have had plenty of chances to change course and row for shore. If stupidity prevents them from doing so, then it is what it is.

Most of us have a tipping point. It's ingrained in us I believe. And some folks just seem like they were born to go around and find everyone else's tipping point and some folks just refuse to let you walk away.

a reply to: Flyingclaydisk

Seems a song is in order...

a reply to: Flyingclaydisk

A 9th grade cauliflower ear and a bloody face for starters--
ending up with one of my best friends afterward. You never know...

a reply to: Flyingclaydisk

I am a simple man, with simple needs. I have no desire to possess vast wealth, nor do I aspire to leave more than a suggestion of a mark upon this world, to attest to my existence once I have left it. However, when something threatens my ability to attend to even my limited requirements, the basic things in life, when someone knocks me down, the tendency is to not merely stand, but stand on the skull of my assailant, and make a tasteful hat out of his face flesh.

It's not about getting ahead. That is not worth diddly squat to me. Staying alive however...a different matter entirely.

a reply to: Flyingclaydisk

I got mowed down by our all american defensive end my first week of 2 a days. Hit me so hard i broke both wrists. Coach said he'd never seen 320 lbs fly so far through the air.

i have no idea why, but man that was good times.

I've had my head cracked open 6 times by a brain surgeon at least he had the courtesy of letting an anesthetist knock me out first.

Work isn't a fight to survive... it's a dance where everyone's wearing headphones and dancing to a different song. Ever walk up on a silent dancing flash mob? All of them dancing around each other but you can't hear there music? That's an office job.

Resilience will always get you further in life than raw talent. Talent might only be in one or two areas, if you're resilient you can walk in all worlds and eventually dominate them. It's probably the most important human trait to develop.

I spent the best part of my teens getting my back repaired. I have two pins, one of my ribs and parts of both hips fused unto my spine. I spent sometimes 8/9 months at a time in a full upper body brace for almost five years between surgeries, which I had about a dozen of. They told me that I would never be able to spend too much time standing. I ended up making a living for almost twenty years on my feet as a cook/chef, and a damn good one at that.

I spent a long time working for a lot of crappy people to hone my skills. Some jobs, everyday was a fight. Idiot owners, idiot chefs, idiot servers, everyone just looking out for number one and never working as a team to get stuff done. Backstabbinbg, lying, stealing with not an ounce of concern for everyone else. But I had bills to pay and a daughter to raise on my own so I had to stick it out until the next opportunity came along. I did meet good people along the way, a lot of them actually and some of the places I worked where awesome but some where places that you showed up for work one day and the place closed. Like I closed the place the night before and the next day its done. No warning and no pay check. But I kept going and learned my craft and got really good at it, so much so that people came looking for me to work for them and people came looking for me for a job because they wanted to work with me.

I was accepted to nursing school when I was 19 but because one of the pins hardware slipped, I had to lose my seat as I was going to miss about 5 months of the program. 4 years ago I lost my job. I reapplied to university to try and get into the nursing program. The day I showed up at a thing called admission on the spot, I asked the person at the desk where do I apply for the BN program. She laughed at me. Seriously, laughed in my face. So I told her how about you tell me what I need to do instead of being a bitch. She kinda straightened up a little at that one.

So she asked me when was the last time I was in school. I said I graduated with honours from Culinary School. She laughed in my face again and said no, I said school. Anyway, to cut a much longer story down some, I ended up going into a general degree and finally getting accepted to the BN degree two years later. After being denied the first time. Instead of saying oh well I tried, I tried even harder. I'm now done my second year, one of the top in my class and getting a second shot at a life long dream.

In nutshell, I don't give up, I don't give in and I don't quit.I take whats thrown at me and keep moving forward, one way or another.

I really liked the hockey analogy, I can relate to that.