It doesn't matter to the flexible willow tree which way the wind blows it. The tree is firmly rooted and lets the potentially destructive forces of the wind move past it without struggling against it. It is content to be blown to the right as well as to the left. The bending and flexing actually make it stronger and able to withstand bigger and stronger forces. You too can cultivate the ability to gain strength from the ever-changing forces in your life by deciding to consciously practice being flexible. (Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Cara_Nether)
While following the round wolf along the path that seems to never ending, I come up three fighting rings with two holographic men boxing each other in it. I am one of the holographic men inside of each of the rings. And, the other holographic men inside those fighting rings were the different opponents that I fought against during my three amateur boxing competitions. I recalled the first amateur boxing competition occurred in 1988, while I was in college, during a "Sigma Chi Fight Night" boxing event. It was my first boxing competition. I won that competition with a Technical Knock Out (TKO) during the second round, I believe.
The voice, which I heard during previous questionings, asked me, "Do you know how you defeated that opponent?" I responded, "Yeah, I knocked him out. And, I won..." The voice responded, "You explained how you won the the boxing match. Look at that more closer to what you did to win that match. Now, tell me how did you defeat your opponent." I replied, "My opponent did not keep his boxing gloves closer together to protect this face. I was able to keep punching the opponent in the nose to the point that he was unable to breath through his nose, which caused him to have to breath with only his mouth..." The voice told me to continue, "Eventually, the opponent appear to become light headed from the punches to his nose. And, my opponent appeared to have lost consciousness and almost fell all the way out of the right..."
The voice asked me, "Do you think that was the only reason you defeated your opponent, my friend?" "What do you getting at with that question?", I asked. The voice replied, "Did you not think your opponent was just as fit as you were during that competition?" I responded, "After watching him during the first round of our boxing, I did not think he was just as much in shape as I was." The voice pointed out that the boxing competition, in that competition, was mine alone to win or loose. The voice added that I observed a weakness in my opponent's strategy of boxing and I capitalized on it. And, I was able to be in enough shape to take advantage of that weakness after lasting through the first round. By the second round, my opponent was becoming tired. And, was concentrating on being tire than a new strategy to end the fight as soon as possible with me. The voice asked, "Do this information sound familiar to you, my friend?" I knew the voice was referring back to my sparring session with my sensei that I lost...
The two holographic images fighting each other in the first ring disappeared. I began watching the next fight that I recalled occurring in 1989. I was still in college during this boxing competition. I won that "Sigma Chi Fight Night" boxing event being won with a "Unanimous decision" in my favor. The voice asked, "How come you were unable to knock out this opponent, my friend?" I replied, "I gave this opponent everything that I had with my punches. But, he refused to go down. By the third round, I had to just run out the clock by back pedaling away from my opponent cause I was almost tap out on my strength. But, he did not take advantage of boxing during the last round to try to get the best of me. I lucked out of that fight." The voice responded, " You sell yourself short, my friend. You gave a good boxing match. But, sometimes the will of the mind can overcome the will of the body. You opponent did not want to go down. He rather loose the boxing match standing than to loose that match by anyone knocking him out. So, in a way your opponent won the match, also..." I agreed with the voice's point of view. And, that holographic boxing match disappeared.
The third holographic boxing match occurred after I graduated from college in 1991. Not knowing who my opponent would be for that event, I was able to enlist the assistance of an ex-marine that used to box while he was in the service to get me into boxing shape. It was the first time I had access to a punching bag to workout on. I finally observed my opponent once he entered the ring. My opponent outweighed me by fifty pounds. The voice responded, "You could have quit the match, my friend. Why didn't you?" I responded, "I was not a quitter. And, I wanted to see if I could go the full three rounds with my opponent". The voice asked, "So, you felt a fighter's rush, eh?" I replied, "IF that is what you want to call it. I never had a chance to fight an opponent that was bigger and possibly more stronger than me before. I had to find out if I could hold my own against him."
As I replayed that boxing match in my head, my opponent took control of the first round of that boxing match. My first mistake was attempting to go toe to toe with a person that was much bigger than me. My opponent was able to push me into one of the corners where he was able to keep me pinned there while he was able to beat the hell out of me. I could not move the big guy. And, when he punched me in my jaw. I thought I was going to finally see how it felt to be knocked out for the first time. I was literally saved by the bell in that first round. I was about to throw in the towel and quit the boxing competition. The crowd was yelling out the name of my opponent as if he won the first round. I was tired, and my jaw was beginning to hurt a little. I was beginning to think that my opponent was to much of a match for me. Then, for some reason, I looked over to where my family and friends were seating. And, they were still cheering me on to keep fighting. I saw that they still believed that I could win this boxing match. And, I did not want to let them down. So, I decided to stay in the boxing match to prove them right.
Before the sound of the bell for the second round to begin, I could then hear my ex-marine buddy yell out to me that I needed to "stick and move" on that big guy. He was letting me know that the big guy would not be able to touch me, if I keep punching the big guy and then quickly moving away before my opponent try to throw a punch at me. My friend was right. I shouldn't be playing into my opponent's strategies of trying to go toe to toe with him. To do that stupid stunt will result like what occurred to me in the first round. I had to get that big guy into my strategies of sticking and moving, or I will loss this boxing competition. The good things was I still had two more rounds to try to win this boxing competition. So, when the bell rung, I began boxing to my strengths.
I still felt fit enough to move around the boxing ring. My opponent did not appear to want to move around the ring with me. Why did I not see that fact during the first round. My opponent wants to keep the fight in the middle of the ring to use his strengths of pushing me back into the corner again. So, whenever my opponent tried to follow me away from the center of the ring, I would began punching him. I even got enough courage during the second round to take the fight back to my opponent when he began showing signs that he was becoming tired. I was able to get a good strong punch at my opponent's face which caused him to fall backwards into the ropes, just as the bell for the second round to end rung. I figured out how to defeat my opponent: He was not in condition to move around the ring. And, he showing signs to breathing too hard while he was waiting for the third round to begin.
During the third round, I began getting the best of my opponent. My opponent was showing signs of being very fatigued while moving around the ring. He was becoming frustrated with me cause I would not box him toe to toe. And, as long as I kept baiting him to move with me around the ring, the more I was able to keep punching on him. My opponent did not want to punch at the same time he was moving towards me cause it was tiring him out. Near the end of the third round the crowd was now shouting my name instead of my opponent's name cause I had gotten the best of him with my stick and move tactics during the last two rounds. And, I won the boxing match with an unanimous decision.
The voice said, "So, you finally figured out your opponent's weaknesses during that boxing match. You became flexible to your opponent's strengths. And, you adapted your strategies to worked against the opponent's weaknesses, right?" I agreed with him. The voice continued, "Do you think you could have done this well against your opponent if your family and friends where not there to cheer you on during that boxing event, my friend?" Without hesitation, I told the voice, "I get my extra boost of energy from my family and friends cheering me on in any competition cause I never want to let them down. But, the chance to see what I am capable of achieving against an opponent who is much larger and possibly stronger than me is going to always be a motivation to see if I can defeat him or not. I live to be in those types of challenges, I guess, win or loose..." When the last holographic fighters disappeared, I found myself standing at the original crossroads again as if I never left it. I didn't see the young wolf that took me through the journeys of my past fighting experiences. And, I do not know what fate has in store for me next...
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