Younger Me

 What would you say to your younger self? I have always found this an interesting question, because even if I could talk to my younger self, would my younger self listen to my advice? Probably not. We all come to our view on life through experience, and without going through those experiences I feel like we never really change. I also think giving advice to my younger self, or telling me what to expect, would be a disservice. When I first started boxing I lost a lot of fights. I kept fighting to prove that I could be better, than I could win, mostly to myself above all else. Had I had the ability to go back and tell my younger self not to worry, that I will eventually continuously win fights, I may not have trained as hard or been as motivated. And thinking about it further, there were people along the way that would offer encouraging words to keep me going. But I don’t think those words really mattered to me. They were just band aids that helped briefly. The pain of failure helped push me harder and harder. It never felt like a lie, but felt real and could cause me to truly react. 

So if this struggle is a good motivator, I don’t want to mitigate that struggle by interfering with young me’s view of the world. I also don’t have it in me to be mean to younger me in order to intensify the -work harder- reaction. This leaves me with the bigger question, why ask this question at all? In order for each of us to recognize our mistakes growing up and maybe try to correct them or comfort our younger selves? But those experiences made us who we are. 

This reflection brings me back to my interactions as a coach. I want to support my boxers, help them grow and be better. But if I would not go back in time to comfort or correct young me, am I doing a disservice when I try to console my athletes? When they don’t perform like they’ve been training, or are having a rough time? Or do I let experience take it’s course, hoping that they are the type of person that becomes motivated and stronger by their struggles? Maybe my best course of action is to continue to be there after they have determined what course they decide to take, without relying on bright colored band aids to cover their wounds. I think the journey is better than the victory, and it’s always better to have more action along the way.