Roots V1: Battle

Welcome to Roots: a Blog about the Life, Agriculture, and Leadership Lessons I'm Learning at 14!

Welcome to "Roots", happy to have you ;)

"It is inside the battle where we are UNITED." - Kyle Snyder

Me (In the blue) "battling" a former opponent at a recent wrestling tournament

Perhaps not the best post to scream, "NICHOLAS NISHIMURA", but this FIRST EVER blog is about a current concept that resonates with me deeply: Battle.

Foreground

When you hear the word battle, maybe it makes you think about current political wars displaced all over the world, fights between you and a current family member or friend, swords in medieval wars (thanks Kotone), or any other example. But for me, battle is a way of life.

For the past two months, I've been participating in my first high school wrestling season, which has inspired me to write this post. My concept of battle has always been different than the innate definition of battle: fighting between two entities. For me, battle is a way to live- to fight to succeed everyday, to fight your own laziness and limits you subconsciously put on yourself, holding yourself back from victory. .

My wrestling coaches have said one thing throughout the wrestling season:

"Victories are won in the practice room, not on the tournament mat"

And I agree with that, wholeheartedly. Nobody sees how hard you work at practice, the uncountable amount of times you either put in the work, or don't work at all, and nobody knows how hard you're working to succeed other than you. However, I think that victories are won the most when you can stand triumphant over yourself yesterday, and are fighting every day to become the best version of yourself that you can be.

How battling myself has made me into a better person

"You wanna know what makes me great? I demand more from myself every single day than anyone else possibly could expect of me. I don't compete with other people. I compete with what I'm capable of." - Michael Jordan

The biggest battle in life is never fighting a person, never winning a match, never winning a competition. The biggest battle is with yourself, every day. Demanding a certain standard of success from yourself, and breaking past mental barriers to get there. The biggest battle is having that mental strength- that tenacity that allows you to build an intrinsic drive for yourself that will push you further than any opponent ever will.

As much as the first place trophy drives me, what pushes me through the practices, the late nights, the exhaustion, the training sessions, the writing, is my own demand for myself to succeed.

At the end of the day, for as long as you live, opponents and battles will change time and time again. What won't change is you. What won't change is your discipline, your own mental strength, and the own battles you fight with yourself every day.

Conclusions

I can't tell you how to motivate yourself, how to always stand triumphant over your competitions, and I definitely cannot tell you how to live your life.

But living every day like its a battle against myself, competing against the best possible me, is a concept of life that pushes me to succeed. Not always in competition, not always in wrestling matches, but always as a person. Growing, working, learning, succeeding.

Life is a battle. Step in the ring, not using an opponent as motivation, but fight yourself, and become the best version of you possible. Stand victorious.

Subsrcibe to, "Roots" ;)