In our sanitized, safe, padded modern world, most of us go through life without ever throwing a punch or taking one to the face. We avoid conflict, physical or otherwise, and pride ourselves on staying out of the fray.
But let me ask you something…
How much can you really know about yourself if you’ve never been in a fight? If you’ve never had your mettle tested, your resolve challenged, your limits pushed?
I’m not saying go out and start a bar brawl tonight. But there is something primal, something raw and real about the crucible of physical conflict that reveals us to ourselves in a way few other experiences can.
Think about it…
In a real fight, there’s nowhere to hide. No room for self-delusion or bullshit. You’re stripped down to your essence, forced to confront your true nature in a visceral, immediate way.
Will you crumble under pressure or rise to the occasion? Will you succumb to fear and pain or push through? Will you quit at the first sign of adversity or dig deep and find a new gear?
These are the questions that can only be answered in the heat of battle. When the fists are flying and the blood is flowing. When it’s just you, your opponent, and the truth.
Now, I know what some of you are thinking. “Fighting is barbaric, primitive, beneath me.” And sure, on one level, that’s true. We should aspire to resolve our differences with words, not violence.
But let’s not kid ourselves. The capacity for violence, the ability to protect and defend, to stand up for yourself and those you love – that’s hardwired into us. It’s part of what makes us human, for better or worse.
And pretending otherwise, avoiding that side of ourselves entirely, leaves us incomplete. Untested. Unproven.
So while I’m not advocating for gratuitous violence, I am suggesting that there’s value in controlled exposure to physical conflict. In pushing yourself to the brink to see what you’re really made of.
Take up a martial art. Train in boxing, wrestling, BJJ. Put yourself in situations that force you to face down your demons and confront your own capacity for aggression and tenacity.
Because at the end of the day, life is a fight. And the better you know yourself – your true self, tested in the fire of adversity – the better equipped you’ll be to handle whatever battles lie ahead.
So get in the ring. Step onto the mat. Throwdown and scrap it out. You might just be surprised by what you’re capable of. By the depths of courage and resilience lurking inside you.
And that, my friends, is a hell of a lot more valuable than an unblemished record or a pretty face.