Hey, I read a t-shirt at a jiu-jitsu tournament that said: ugly ears and sore hands. It made me laugh, but it also made me think if the text were right the shirt would not be big enough. Currently, I am nursing tendinitis in my right shoulder and left ankle, sore ribs, a tear in my left meniscus, sore neck, not to mention the pain in my hands and the beginning of cauliflower ears.
Having listed all of that I consider myself fortunate. I’m in great shape for the average 43 yr. old. My cardio is good and I am confident in my ability to accomplish any athletic endeavor I wish to take on. I owe it to training myself to be competitive in jiu-jitsu.
Sure I’d love to be pain free and have complete capabilities throughout, but I look at it this way, say you’re at a wedding sitting at a table with 7 or 8 other strangers, because that’s what happens if you’re a single dude at a wedding. The coolest thing that could happen is that someone at the table breaks the uncomfortable silence that is inevitable after introductions and shows you a mangled scar that used to be a calf and he or she follows with, “guess what kind of shark did this to me.”
That just made my night, I’m about to hear a great story. Not like the rest of the table that never takes a chance and puts themselves in situations that are not completely controlled. Your scars and injuries are kind of like a road map to your life, so when I wake up in the middle of the night because my shoulder hurts, it also reminds me of the crash I had during a soccer game because a defender decided to go after me instead of the ball.
I believe we should never stop accumulating the memories, even if the currency we pay means dealing with a limp or a scar or two.
Ed “the chupacabra” Westermark
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