On the Brown Men's lacrosse team, the mantra is chop wood and carry water. The words come from a book that goes by those very words. In essence, the story talks about a young man from the United States who travels to Japan to become a samurai. During his first week, the sensei explains to all the trainees that the village relies on wood from the forest for heat and water from the wells for bathing, drinking, and cooking. The trainees join the other village people chopping wood and carrying water to sustain the village. John, eager to fire the bow and begin training to be a samurai asks the Sensei when they will begin their training. The sensei tells him the training has already begun and they will be able to shoot bows soon. Before you have the glory, you must work for it. In order to achieve the ideal image of yourself in your head, you must chop wood and carry water day-in and day-out to better yourself. From here, you can extend the effort towards the entire team. As a teammate, I chop wood and carry water for the man next to me and I hold him accountable to chop his wood and carry his water for our team. I chop wood and carry water so that the village can thrive.
After practice, we read a set of chapters and the next day we have a "life skills" meeting where one player gives a summary on the reading then the rest of the team and coaches have the opportunity to walk to the front of the room and address the entire team with their ideas. I have addressed the team several times with my ideas, and each time I get a shout from one of the boys. "Dahlen, I really liked what you said earlier. Very well said" "Jimmy, I want you to know that we all notice it, the coaches notice it, I notice it, way to go for getting up there."
Right now, I am one of the boys. I don't know when my tryout ends, I don't know if it has already ended, all I know is that I get the incredible privilege of playing lacrosse and working out with a great group of guys everyday. My mentality is "get to" instead of "have to." I don't have to wake up at 5:30AM for morning practice, I get to start the day with my boys and become a better lacrosse player and young man in the process. When you slip into a "have to" mentality, you go internal. Every tinge of pain, every thought that you can't do it is magnified. With a "get to" mentality, you escape internal state and you push for the guys next to you. You look side to side and encourage them to be better so that you can be better.
Right now, I am pursuing the love of the process. I love the process, but love isn't a constant. After a dense set of classes and studying, going for a run or playing some wall ball may be the last thing I want to do, but I crave the feeling of getting better. I crave the sound of the ball bouncing off the wall and back into my stick, I crave the feeling of my lungs grasping for air, I crave the feeling of my muscles crying out to stop, because I know I am better for it. Now, it is nearly impossible physically and mentally to work 24/7, so it is important at times to focus on physical and mental health. These "breaks" must be planned out to enhance the body and the mind. Playing Spikeball on the green with friends, taking the time to do a slow stretch, and more are things that are essential for physical and mental health, but these time periods can also turn into distractions.
I'm proud of myself for the work I have put in. I am accepted and celebrated by my teammates. Pain and discipline weigh ounces, but regret weighs tons. Even when every single muscle and bone in my body was crying out for me to stop, take off my helmet and leave the field, quit the team, I knew that I couldn't give up. I couldn't live with the feeling of quitting, and now I have overcome the hump. The journey is still uphill, but I believe that I crushed the first peak along the way.
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