Wrestling...

to be honest, i never thought i would like wrestling...
i mean, you roll around aggressively trying to hold someone still on there back to win...

then i married someone who loves wrestling...
and he looks at the sport TOTALLY different.

then we had a son together...
I was FOR SURE he would never wrestle.

5 1/2 years later....

Yep, he's wrestling.

And I am beginning to look at wrestling a little differently.

Yes, the object of the sport is still the same (for the nontechnical me...) you still roll around on the ground and try to 'pin' the other person to the ground on their back.

But instead of only seeing the physical part of wrestling, I am learning more...

It is an individual sport...meaning, Garyn is in control; he's held ACCOUNTABLE!
Garyn will WIN or he will LOSE; he is RESPONSIBLE for  his record.
As a result of this responsibility and accountability,
Garyn will have to learn to deal with emotions of a loss and learn to get back up, strive for more...
It is a disciplined sport...which will not only teach him how to pin his opponent,
It will teach him to be a strong, accountable, and responsible individual!!

It makes perfect sense to me now...

My husband is as successful as he is because (in a way) he is still 'wrestling,'
however, he is not wrestling on a mat..
he is wrestling his career.

I was proud of Garyn this week...he had 2 wins and 2 pins.  He was VERY disappointed with himself during his 3rd match.  He came off the mat with tears in his eyes.  Ryan took him aside and had an encouraging talk with him.
(At this point, he could have given up, he could have said he didn't want to wrestle his last match.  We had been there for 8+ hours. He was tired, we ALL were tired.  But... he didn't.)
Garyn pulled himself together, got ready, and wrestled his last match.  He won 17-5 and pinned him!  Garyn walked off the mat so proud!!
We were too!!

Then it was time to collect a reward...well since Garyn didn't place in the top 3, he won a ribbon instead of a medal.  This again, brought tears to his eyes.  We talked about it and reminded him again how proud we were of him.  He accepted our words and moved on...I didn't know if he appreciated our talk or just wanted to move on.  Until...

We were going to bed and I asked Garyn what the best part of his day was...he answered  "Mom, it was getting my ribbon.  I did a good job today."  I looked at him (my heart melting and exploding with joy all at the same time) and quietly said, Garyn I am so proud of you!

So, you see....there is so much more to wrestling than just a PIN.  I am learning...