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> what pain do you want in your life? > A more interesting question, a question that perhaps you’ve never considered before, is what pain do you want in your l

> what pain do you want in your life? > A more interesting question, a question that perhaps you’ve never considered before, is what pain do you want in your life? What are you willing to struggle for? Because that seems to be a greater determinant of how our lives turn out. > The daily drudgery of practicing, the logistics of finding a group and rehearsing, the pain of finding gigs and actually getting people to show up and give a shit. The broken strings, the blown tube amp, hauling 40 pounds of gear to and from rehearsals with no car. It’s a mountain of a dream and a mile-high climb to the top. And what it took me a long time to discover is that I didn’t like to climb much. I just liked to imagine the top. It's an amazing point, but the article's kind of meh; I think these two selections convey the TL;DR. It also rings SUPER true. A few times in my life now, it's felt like the Universe has handed me what I asked for... only with strings attached that I couldn't stomach. I also keep thinking back to a friend who's immensely passionate about gardening and food. I met her when she was a Disney Imagineer, and now other people fly her around the world, so she can live in their houses and cook them food. And any time I think or encounter anything interesting food related? She's who I turn too. Watching her trajectory is seriously changing my idea as to what "passion" is, looks like, and results in.

sean_patel 10y ago
> it's felt like the Universe has handed me what I asked for... only with strings attached that I couldn't stomach. This. Very beautifully put. I've had a similar experience w.r.t. my chosen career. I was a boxing standout in the amateurs, and despite all the "heads-up" I received (unsolicited) from my Indian Uncles and Aunties, I was drawn to sport for 2 reasons. 1) The glamour of a Prize Fighter, making a ton of $ and getting all the women (Ali , Sugar Ray Robinson, Roberto Duran are all said to have had women lining outside their hotel room after a fight) 2) I was very gifted and being Indian-American I was told that I would have a great "outside the ring" story that would be intriguing and sell tickets etc. I was walking down opponents with ease and was winning shut-outs (on scorecards). Got noticed at the National level, even got inquiries from the folks running the Olympic Trials. Then, 1 day, I was sparring without head-gear and walked right into a straight right. My nose was broken and I was bleeding for a while. It hurt so much. That's when I realized I literally didn't have the stomach to take a real beating, not to mention the head-shots that cause long-term brain damage. Until that night, I never gave the health-concerns any real thought. I slept over it, and the next day, I told my coach (in person) that I was done. I was expecting him to convince me to stay on because he was with me for nearly 10 years and he had great plans for me, but he said nothing. He later told me that my eyes told him all he needed to know. In that sense, you could say that I couldn't stomach the "down side" of being a Boxer. And so here I am, a code-monkey sitting inside a cube, talking to my computer. Oh well. I still feel like I "pussied-out" because in Boxing, you need 3 things to be successful - Ring-IQ (it's a thinking man's sport), the Chin (or you get KOed easily) and Heart (will-power). I guess I didn't have the heart.
- Vanit 10y ago
  Great story, thanks for sharing!

sean_patel 10y ago

> it's felt like the Universe has handed me what I asked for... only with strings attached that I couldn't stomach. This. Very beautifully put. I've had a similar experience w.r.t. my chosen career. I was a boxing standout in the amateurs, and despite all the "heads-up" I received (unsolicited) from my Indian Uncles and Aunties, I was drawn to sport for 2 reasons. 1) The glamour of a Prize Fighter, making a ton of $ and getting all the women (Ali , Sugar Ray Robinson, Roberto Duran are all said to have had women lining outside their hotel room after a fight) 2) I was very gifted and being Indian-American I was told that I would have a great "outside the ring" story that would be intriguing and sell tickets etc. I was walking down opponents with ease and was winning shut-outs (on scorecards). Got noticed at the National level, even got inquiries from the folks running the Olympic Trials. Then, 1 day, I was sparring without head-gear and walked right into a straight right. My nose was broken and I was bleeding for a while. It hurt so much. That's when I realized I literally didn't have the stomach to take a real beating, not to mention the head-shots that cause long-term brain damage. Until that night, I never gave the health-concerns any real thought. I slept over it, and the next day, I told my coach (in person) that I was done. I was expecting him to convince me to stay on because he was with me for nearly 10 years and he had great plans for me, but he said nothing. He later told me that my eyes told him all he needed to know. In that sense, you could say that I couldn't stomach the "down side" of being a Boxer. And so here I am, a code-monkey sitting inside a cube, talking to my computer. Oh well. I still feel like I "pussied-out" because in Boxing, you need 3 things to be successful - Ring-IQ (it's a thinking man's sport), the Chin (or you get KOed easily) and Heart (will-power). I guess I didn't have the heart.

Vanit 10y ago
Great story, thanks for sharing!