Definition of dedication and sacrifice
According to Dictionary.comDedicated can be defined as “fully committed to something, such as an ideal, a political cause, or a personal goal.” The synonyms for dedication are commitment, loyalty, devotion, loyalty.
Being dedicated means being totally committed to something. In other words, it means being dedicated to a particular thought, ideal, purpose, or goal. For example, one may be dedicated to the ideal of a democratic society. Or one can dedicate himself to philanthropy and fundraising.
Sacrifice often goes hand in hand with dedication.
The Free Dictionary defines sacrifice as “the loss of something highly valued for the sake of someone who is considered to be of greater value.”
“The amount you are willing to sacrifice is directly proportional to your desire for success.” – Dan Gable
During my junior year of high school, my teammates voted me the most dedicated fighter. That fighting season was actually quite heartbreaking for me. I had the ability to win the conference title, but finished runner-up. I won sectionals and was favored to win districts, but lost my first round match after leading 3-0 in the final period. I won the next game in extra time. In a wrestling match, I was able to qualify for status. But I lost. In fact, I lost to the fighter that I had won in the sectional finals a week earlier. He was sad, angry and humiliated.
So why did my teammates vote for me as the most dedicated? I guess I don’t know for sure. I always controlled my weight well and my coach never had to worry about me gaining weight. From what I remember, I never missed a practice. I gave up the luxury of eating whatever I wanted. I sacrificed the time that I could have spent with friends and girlfriends. I guess they recognized my commitment to wrestling.
Successful athletes and other people from different walks of life have dedicated themselves to something that they considered important. Athletes, actors, singers, artists, and writers often had to dedicate themselves to their craft and make sacrifices before reaching the pinnacle of success.
Dedication and sacrifice to wrestling
Even six-time world and Olympic champion John Smith suffered rare losses from time to time. He lost in the NCAA finals in his sophomore year at Oklahoma State. The loss, of course, enraged Smith.
According to TP Grant in an article titled Gods of War: John Smith, “Determined to become the best, Smith devoted himself completely to the sport and rejected anything that was not directly related to success on the mat. Friends, relationships and vacations were put aside as Smith sought to achieve a goal. : never lose again “.
In a 1992 interview with the Los Angeles Times Smith spoke of the commitment saying, “I make a commitment that no other fighter does. There are probably some fighters who think they commit. But I really do make a commitment.”
Smith goes on to say, “Anything that gets in my way, I pretty much eliminate. I don’t have too many close friends. I don’t have too many close relationships. I just can’t allow them to go where I want to go, do what I want to do. I really focus on I really find out and find a way how can I win, how can I beat everyone. I’ll do whatever it takes. “
I’m sure you know that Dan Gable was an incredibly successful American fighter and coach. His dedication to the sport is well known and much has been written about him.
Gable states, “The obvious goals were there: State Champion, NCAA Champion, Olympic Champion. To get there, I had to set a daily goal which was to push myself to exhaustion or in other words to work so hard in practice that someone would have to get me off the carpet. “
In an ESPN SportsCentury documentary, Gable says: “Finally, in my last year in college, I actually took a girl out and looked at my watch when I got home. It was like 3:00 am and I had a running practice. lined up at 7:00 and I didn’t feel good in that race practice. I was tired all day. That solidified in my mind that it wasn’t going to work and something had to give. “
After an incredible career in high school and college, Gable won a gold medal at the 1972 Summer Olympics in Munich Germany without giving up a single point.
Mark Ironside is another fighter you may have heard of. He was a two-time state champion and a two-time NCAA champion. But Ironside didn’t become a champion without dedication and sacrifice.
According to the article Mark Ironside – Once in a Lifetime, “For Mark, lonely hours of painful and inconvenient sacrifice would soon give way to glory. For him, the focal point of each day was not eating junk food, playing video games, or aimlessly hanging out with friends. It was 3:00. Two-hour afternoon practice session that most high school wrestlers dread. Mark concentrated intensely on every minute of the warm-up, drill, and hard punches. He reveled in the physical and mental challenge, and once completed, it would invariably stick with continuing your workout after everyone else showered or even at home. “
When it looked like wrestling was going to be eliminated from the Olympics, comedian and actor Jay Mohr shared some thoughts. This is part of what he said: “Try to get your fifteen year old son to clean his room. Try to do it. Now I want you to get the same boy and tell him he can only eat chicken breasts.” and spinach, and every now and then he gorges himself on fruit, gets up at dusk and runs five miles before at school, and then when he’s at school, he’ll stay at school and go to a wrestling hall and push himself. It is an amazing sport. It is the purest sport. It is the sport alone, alone. It is a monastic life, the life of a fighter.
Other examples of dedication and sacrifice
Fighters, of course, are not the only individuals who are familiar with dedication and sacrifice.
Mary Lou Retton was the first American woman to win a gymnastics gold medal and she did so in 1984. In an interview, Mary Lou was asked about her training program during that time and she replied, “Well, it was quite difficult. Two years Before the Olympics, our daily hours were from 7:00 to 11:00 in the gym every morning. We would shower in the gym, go to school for a few hours and then go back to the gym from 5:00 pm to 9:00 pm: 00 pm every day. So it was eight hours every day. It was a job. “
“You give up on your childhood. You miss graduation parties, games and high school events, and people say it’s horrible … I say it was a good exchange. You missed something, but I think I gained more. of what I lost. ” – Mary Lou Retton
Most of you have heard of Arnold Schwarzenegger, the seven-time Mr. Olympia bodybuilding champion and movie star. You may not know that Arnold served for a period of time in the Austrian army for compulsory service. Due to his devotion to bodybuilding, Arnold served seven days in military jail in 1965 for being absent from the Austrian Army without permission to participate in and win a bodybuilding event called the Junior Mr. Europe contest.
Later, Arnold would come to America to pursue his dreams. For a time he was a roommate with another bodybuilder and friend Franco Columbu. According to Franco, his grocery bills were huge. Columbu recalls: “Joe Weider would pay us $ 80 a week each. We would go to the market and three days later all the money was gone. We would work construction to earn extra money.”
“Bodybuilding is a lot like any other sport. To be successful, you have to dedicate 100% to your training, diet and mental focus.” – Arnold Schwarzenegger
Robbie Lawler was involved in mixed martial arts and the UFC before it became known. However, he devoted himself to sports.
“I started very young, that obviously helps. I have always believed in myself and have always had the ability to do what I believe in,” Lawler told FOX Sports. “Just being able to exercise, day after day. You have to be a different kind of person not just to do the workouts, but to not make money for months. Live on someone’s couch if you need to before the sport was like that growing up. You have a different mentality. “
If you want to learn about dedication and sacrifice, maybe you should read about the soldiers who wintered at Valley Forge during the American Revolution.
Writes Daniel P. Murphy, “Washington’s army suffered during the winter of 1777-78, but it endured.”
He states: “The army had to find some kind of shelter. Washington gave priority to building log huts. The last ones were not finished until after Christmas. Many men were unable to leave their huts because they had no clothes. The shortage of food and water added to the misery. The staple of their meager diet was fire cake, made from a paste of flour and water cooked on hot stones. “
We all know that soldiers have made many sacrifices for their countries.
The bottom line
So am I saying that you should give up on friends, family, and other interests? Am I saying that you must expect to endure great hardships if you want to become the best? Not necessarily. But, if you really want to be the best fighter you can be, you have to think about your priorities and what you really want.
John Smith and Dan Gable eventually married and had children. They just waited until they could make it a priority in their lives. And many people in close relationships, including girlfriends and married couples, have still become champions. It’s about balance and priorities. So I’m not saying you have to sacrifice everything for wrestling.
For some, wrestling is simply a fun and challenging extracurricular activity and that’s okay. For some, it is much more. As I write this article, summer is fast approaching. What will your summer entail? Will you forget about wrestling during the summer? It’s up to you. How dedicated are you to wrestling? What are you willing to sacrifice?