Hit Me With Your Best Shot

Put up your dukes,

Lets get down to it,

Why don't you hit me with your best shot,

fire away

                        -Pat Benetar

Ah the stylings of 80's rock princess Pat Benetar.  One of the greater things about satellite radio is always being able to find big haired rock at the drop of a hat.  So, The 80's on 8 is what I chose the other morning for my 6:00 am hour and a half commute leading into my twelve hour shift.  This particular song brought back memories of the eight years I spent training and teaching tae kwon do in my 30's.  Six of those years were spent climbing through the ranks of black belt winding up at 3rd degree when we moved to another state.

You don't fight fair,

But that's ok, see if I care,

Knock me down, it's all in vain,

I'll get back on my feet again

As an instructor you learn there are two types of fighters.  The lower ranking colored belt fighters that aimed to hit with as much force as they could possibly muster.  They would take illegal shots, and pretty much do anything to take their opponent down.  Then there were the higher black belt ranks who sparred with control.  They were fast.  They had learned to look for openings and place the kicks and punches strategically to take out the other guy with a low expenditure of energy relatively speaking.  Make no mistake about it, these people could hit just as hard.  In fact, they often did when the lower ranks were swinging hard just to teach them to respect a higher rank.  However, most of the time they really didn't need to.  A match between these two?  Hilarious to watch.  The hard hitters were swinging so hard they were out of gas immediately and by the end of the round would find themselves out of breath exhausted, with their head gear spun around due to a round kick tap to the temple, and wonder what exactly happened, while their skilled opponent wore only a smile.

In all honesty, it's been a tough few weeks.  Two people in my life were diagnosed with serious illnesses that came directly out of nowhere.  Added to this was a variety of stress related to the holidays and taking on a new role at work.  All of these things began to feel  like a full on assault from this thing called life.  My gut reaction was to swing back and swing hard.  I could handle the illness.  I was a medical provider.  I could solve it with medical facts and provider speak.  Holiday stress?  I could sleep less and get more done.  Same goes for work, 100 miles an hour until I ended up just like the tired guy with my headgear on sideways wondering where it was I lost control.  It was time to regroup.

Last weekend, my Team 1DOS cofounder Karl and I took the time out to visit our sick friend, who happened to be one of our very first motivational clients.  I was prepared to deliver spot on hard hitting sympathetic rhetoric.  After all I had provided said rhetoric to thousands of patients over the years.  I was all set to put on my motivator hat and go all Mama Shark on him and convince him it was his job to fight, convince him he could kick cancer's ass.  I was armed and ready.  However, what met me was not what I expected.  It was not a sickly guy deep in depression over the situation.  It was instead, a friend proudly claiming his denial of the situation and embracing the best life had to offer, fighting back with the finesse of a high ranking black belt. Clearly my hard hitting rhetoric and motivation were not required.  What was required instead was a few laughs, relaxation and taking said friend to The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. 

This experience has taught me that life is the type of high ranking fighter that can, at times, make perfect contact with a hit so hard that we never saw it coming.  It's times like these we need to respect the rank, stop wasting energy, end the round, regroup and go back in, only this time focusing on the openings and reserve our energy for the long haul, just like my sick friend has. 

Hit me with your best shot,

Come on hit me with your best shot,

Hit me with your best shot,

Fire away

In the end, with consistent training, and rising to the challenge of facing better fighters, all lower ranks will develop the same finesse that took them down to start with.  I suppose life is like that.  If we avoid the hard hitting struggles of life, we will miss the opportunity to develop the finesse to enjoy the best life has to offer which is truly a loss.  So, Life?  Hit me with your best shot, as I know in my heart of hearts I will move forward through the experience and see the best is yet to come.