Fight a Good Fight

Those who have been reading me for a while know that I box. Yeah, in a real boxing gym. 


It started out as an obsession to smack things VERY HARD. Lets just say I had some emotions that begged to be released through my fists, and that punching bags and willing sparring partners have all been my heroes over the last year.


This May marks one year since I started boxing. And I have learnt a few things. Not in the least of which is, if your head isn't there the punch doesn't hurt. Yeah, I have been hit. :)
But here's the thing, this 'blood sport' is far more of a thinking game then I ever imagined. You can have all the strength in the world, all the talent and all the punch combinations down so fast and automatic you could hit in your sleep, but it won't count for anything if you don't believe you can. A boxer that steps into the ring wondering if he can win, has already lost. You have to go in there believing you can, and then put the challenge out to your opponent to prove you wrong. 


Self belief isn't built into a boxer on fight night. It happens behind the scene. It happens when you run past the point of tired and then all the way back. It happens when your arms scream that they can't complete another push up and you tell then they will. It happens every time you reach your limit and then ask more of yourself. 
And every time I accept my own challenge I believe in me a little more. 


So where am I going with this, since I know most of you write or read and leave boxing to the, well, boxers? 


Okay. Consider this. What if writing is one tenth ability and nine tenths belief in yourself? What if you keep on keeping on because that is what writers do. What if you tell yourself you can, you will, you already are? 


Here's what the boxing god Ali said.
"The fight is won or lost far away from witnesses - behind the lines, in the gym, and out there on the road, long before I dance under those lights."

I get that Ali was talking about preparation. But apply it to self belief and you get this:

"The book is breathed into life before it reaches the printed page, far away from witnesses, away from agents, away from editors and long before any fans will ever read you- behind the lines, in your hopes and dreams, in midnight hours at your computer, and in beating back all the jackals in your mind, long before you will dance ever under those lights."

So fight a good fight people. Tell yourself you can. Then put your challenge out there to the world. The worst that happens, as far as I can see, is that you get a re-match. Right? :)


What about you? Fought any good fights lately?