Life is like boxing; you can’t leave the ring just because you’re getting hit. The fact is we all face trials and tribulations. And I must admit, I face certain kinds of adversity where I tend to feel self-pity, at least on the inside. If that happens, I lean into frustration and anger, which is never good. The problem is that in life, we have to expect the challenges.
Epictetus, the stoic philosopher of ancient Rome, once wrote, “So, what should each of us say to every trial we face? This is what I’ve trained for, for this is my discipline!” We are like prize fighters. We train to fight—adversity. Another stoic, Seneca, wrote that success without wounds is feeble. Hardship can easily conquer it in the boxing ring. But “a man who has been at constant feud with misfortunes, acquires a skin calloused by suffering.”* He fights relentlessly and never surrenders.
One hundred years ago, Hollywood made silent movie comedies featuring Charlie Chaplin-like actors playing boxers who jump out of the ring immediately after receiving their first punch in the face. It was funny because everyone knew that was NOT what real boxing was. A boxer knows he is going to get hit. That’s what boxing is. And the boxer fights on.
I wish I could tell you otherwise, but life is sometimes like a boxing match. Events will punch you. Expect it. And fight on.
Mark
Author of Holy Chaos How To Walk with God in a Frenzied World
*For more on the similarities of boxing and life, see Ryan Holiday, The Daily Stoic, p. 155.