VERY Inspiritational Piece of Writing I Wanted to Share with Everyone
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Join Date: Mar 2010
Posts: 25
VERY Inspirational Piece of Writing I Wanted to Share with Everyone
I wanted to share this piece of writing by Evan Tanner. I saw this years ago and was blown away.
Evan Tanner was a professional mixed martial arts fighter that essentially taught himself most fighting techniques through books and videos. Years later, he became the UFC Middleweight Champion of the World.
After a short title reign, he sort of fell off the map and the sport passed him by.
A few years later he decided to give up drinking and make another run towards training and fighting for a world title. He was finally invited back to the UFC, which is essentially the elite Mixed Martial Arts organization in the world.
He was a very intelligent and articulate person. I followed his blog and he had many amazing pieces of writing that he posted from time to time. This is the one that stuck out to me more than any of the others that he ever shared. It is about his plans on quitting. It is titled "I am Setting a Date."
Here it is:
I am setting a date.
I have been drinking like a madman for fifteen years.
I am done with it.
I am setting a date.
It has ruined my career. It has ruined my health. I have lost the respect of my peers. I have lost my family. I have lost so many friends. I have lost the women I have loved. I have been arrested, wrecked cars, spent nights in jail, gotten in fights, gambled and drunk away hundreds of thousands of dollars, raged like a beast, talked like a fool. I lost my home, gone deep into debt, ruined my credit, and now I’m at risk of losing the last few things I own. I have destroyed my life. All because of drinking. I have made so many mistakes. I have disappointed so many who believed in me. Embarrassed so many who loved me. Almost everything bad that can be said about a man, has been said about me.
I am done with it.
I am setting a date.
There will be those of you who understand me, who will hear me. There will be those who laugh, and ridicule. I am willing to bear the weight of that if any of these words might reach anyone, might have meaning to anyone, if this vision might give hope to anyone.
I choose to Believe
I will always believe there is some magic out there. I will always believe there is some magic within me. If we stop believing, our spirits die. I refuse to let my spirit die.
I choose to Believe.
I am setting a date.
I am setting a date, and on that day I will stop drinking. That will be the day I begin to be a better man. That will be the day I begin to find the best of me. That will be the day I begin to find the best of what life can be. I want to find the magic. Join me. If you want to make a change in your life, join me. If any of you want to find the best of yourself, join me. If you want to find your own magic, join me. I am going to quit drinking, get back into training, and step into the Octagon again, and when I do, it will be dedicated to all of you who have the courage to believe in the best of what you can be, all of you who have the courage to stand up with me and face your fears and weaknesses. We will stand shoulder to shoulder, an unconquerable army. BELIEVE in what you can do, and it will happen.
I am setting a date.
It has been said that I am done, that I will never fight again. It has been said that I have no chance of ever being a champion again. I refuse to accept that. I challenge you to believe in yourself. I challenge you to do what they say can not be done. Join this army of unconquerable souls.
I choose to believe.
I am setting a date.
Unfortunately Tanner was knocked out in the first round of his comeback fight.
After this crushing defeat, he was offered one final chance to gain a win in the world's premier fighting organization.
Sadly, he lost that fight also. This time by decision.
Months later, Tanner, who was a very adventurous person, set out to go on a desert expedition in California. He was very excited about it and mentioned it for weeks on his blog.
During the expedition, Tanner called his manager and informed him that his motorcycle had run out of gas.
He planned to hike anyways and decided to try to make his way back to the campground on his own.
His tracking equipment failed him as well and he became lost. Temperatures reached up to 118 degrees and days later, Tanner's body was found near empty water bottles.
I hope that this quote can be an inspiration and a tool to anyone on here when times get hard.
I'll leave you with one more fact about the late Evan Tanner.
He mentioned in one of his blog posts that the worst night of his life was when he was knocked out in the first round of his comeback fight
He turned his life around and spent months and months training to reach a goal he was so sure he would achieve, only to lose a few minutes into the fight.
The first thing he thought of in the locker room afterwards was to get showered up and after doing press and interviews, quietly leave the arena and go out and get drunk.
But a thought was all it really was, as Tanner never had another drop after he "set a date."
Evan Tanner was a professional mixed martial arts fighter that essentially taught himself most fighting techniques through books and videos. Years later, he became the UFC Middleweight Champion of the World.
After a short title reign, he sort of fell off the map and the sport passed him by.
A few years later he decided to give up drinking and make another run towards training and fighting for a world title. He was finally invited back to the UFC, which is essentially the elite Mixed Martial Arts organization in the world.
He was a very intelligent and articulate person. I followed his blog and he had many amazing pieces of writing that he posted from time to time. This is the one that stuck out to me more than any of the others that he ever shared. It is about his plans on quitting. It is titled "I am Setting a Date."
Here it is:
I am setting a date.
I have been drinking like a madman for fifteen years.
I am done with it.
I am setting a date.
It has ruined my career. It has ruined my health. I have lost the respect of my peers. I have lost my family. I have lost so many friends. I have lost the women I have loved. I have been arrested, wrecked cars, spent nights in jail, gotten in fights, gambled and drunk away hundreds of thousands of dollars, raged like a beast, talked like a fool. I lost my home, gone deep into debt, ruined my credit, and now I’m at risk of losing the last few things I own. I have destroyed my life. All because of drinking. I have made so many mistakes. I have disappointed so many who believed in me. Embarrassed so many who loved me. Almost everything bad that can be said about a man, has been said about me.
I am done with it.
I am setting a date.
There will be those of you who understand me, who will hear me. There will be those who laugh, and ridicule. I am willing to bear the weight of that if any of these words might reach anyone, might have meaning to anyone, if this vision might give hope to anyone.
I choose to Believe
I will always believe there is some magic out there. I will always believe there is some magic within me. If we stop believing, our spirits die. I refuse to let my spirit die.
I choose to Believe.
I am setting a date.
I am setting a date, and on that day I will stop drinking. That will be the day I begin to be a better man. That will be the day I begin to find the best of me. That will be the day I begin to find the best of what life can be. I want to find the magic. Join me. If you want to make a change in your life, join me. If any of you want to find the best of yourself, join me. If you want to find your own magic, join me. I am going to quit drinking, get back into training, and step into the Octagon again, and when I do, it will be dedicated to all of you who have the courage to believe in the best of what you can be, all of you who have the courage to stand up with me and face your fears and weaknesses. We will stand shoulder to shoulder, an unconquerable army. BELIEVE in what you can do, and it will happen.
I am setting a date.
It has been said that I am done, that I will never fight again. It has been said that I have no chance of ever being a champion again. I refuse to accept that. I challenge you to believe in yourself. I challenge you to do what they say can not be done. Join this army of unconquerable souls.
I choose to believe.
I am setting a date.
Unfortunately Tanner was knocked out in the first round of his comeback fight.
After this crushing defeat, he was offered one final chance to gain a win in the world's premier fighting organization.
Sadly, he lost that fight also. This time by decision.
Months later, Tanner, who was a very adventurous person, set out to go on a desert expedition in California. He was very excited about it and mentioned it for weeks on his blog.
During the expedition, Tanner called his manager and informed him that his motorcycle had run out of gas.
He planned to hike anyways and decided to try to make his way back to the campground on his own.
His tracking equipment failed him as well and he became lost. Temperatures reached up to 118 degrees and days later, Tanner's body was found near empty water bottles.
I hope that this quote can be an inspiration and a tool to anyone on here when times get hard.
I'll leave you with one more fact about the late Evan Tanner.
He mentioned in one of his blog posts that the worst night of his life was when he was knocked out in the first round of his comeback fight
He turned his life around and spent months and months training to reach a goal he was so sure he would achieve, only to lose a few minutes into the fight.
The first thing he thought of in the locker room afterwards was to get showered up and after doing press and interviews, quietly leave the arena and go out and get drunk.
But a thought was all it really was, as Tanner never had another drop after he "set a date."
Member
Thread Starter
Join Date: Mar 2010
Posts: 25
I am glad everybody likes the quote.
I was a huge fan of this guy and still am to this day.
I actually lost the quote years ago, as his blogsite shut down shortly after his death.
I searched all over the internet for it and could not find it.
Then a long while later, my cousin reminded me that I had e-mailed it to him years before.
So I checked in my sent mail and found it. This was one of the greatest simple joys in life for me...finding this quote.
Although I think about it from time to time; I was reminded again about it because of a documentary that they made about Evan Tanner.
Here is a trailer for it, if anyone is interested. I don't know how to embed it.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ufCwtz-vjIg
I was a huge fan of this guy and still am to this day.
I actually lost the quote years ago, as his blogsite shut down shortly after his death.
I searched all over the internet for it and could not find it.
Then a long while later, my cousin reminded me that I had e-mailed it to him years before.
So I checked in my sent mail and found it. This was one of the greatest simple joys in life for me...finding this quote.
Although I think about it from time to time; I was reminded again about it because of a documentary that they made about Evan Tanner.
Here is a trailer for it, if anyone is interested. I don't know how to embed it.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ufCwtz-vjIg
Member
Thread Starter
Join Date: Mar 2010
Posts: 25
Here is the quote that sparked the title of the documentary:
College dropout, adventurer, seeker, traveler, ditch digger, dishwasher, cable tech, concrete worker, steel worker, salad prep, busboy, ski resort security, ski resort rental shop technician. I've worked in a slaughterhouse. I've been a landscaper. I've done drywall, tile, countertops, wood flooring, roofing. I have been a plumber, worked as a bottle collector at a bar, a bouncer, a doorman, a head of a security team. I have been a basket room clerk, a carpenter, a framer building beach houses, a truss builder. I've lived on a farm. I've lived in the city. I've earned money mowing lawns, selling on ebay, and fighting. A teacher, a trainer, and a coach sometimes. There was a time when I was younger that I didn't know any better than to be a liar, a cheater, and a thief. I have since learned to despise those things. I have had great friendships. I have had great loves. I have been a lover, I have been a son, a brother, and a friend. And I was once
A WORLD CHAMPION.
College dropout, adventurer, seeker, traveler, ditch digger, dishwasher, cable tech, concrete worker, steel worker, salad prep, busboy, ski resort security, ski resort rental shop technician. I've worked in a slaughterhouse. I've been a landscaper. I've done drywall, tile, countertops, wood flooring, roofing. I have been a plumber, worked as a bottle collector at a bar, a bouncer, a doorman, a head of a security team. I have been a basket room clerk, a carpenter, a framer building beach houses, a truss builder. I've lived on a farm. I've lived in the city. I've earned money mowing lawns, selling on ebay, and fighting. A teacher, a trainer, and a coach sometimes. There was a time when I was younger that I didn't know any better than to be a liar, a cheater, and a thief. I have since learned to despise those things. I have had great friendships. I have had great loves. I have been a lover, I have been a son, a brother, and a friend. And I was once
A WORLD CHAMPION.
Member
Join Date: Jan 2011
Posts: 47
That was really beautiful- thank you atman!
It reminded me of this:
"Roll the Dice"
if you’re going to try, go all the
way.
otherwise, don’t even start.
if you’re going to try, go all the
way.
this could mean losing girlfriends,
wives, relatives, jobs and
maybe your mind.
go all the way.
it could mean not eating for 3 or 4 days.
it could mean freezing on a
park bench.
it could mean jail,
it could mean derision,
mockery,
isolation.
isolation is the gift,
all the others are a test of your
endurance, of
how much you really want to
do it.
and you’ll do it
despite rejection and the worst odds
and it will be better than
anything else
you can imagine.
if you’re going to try,
go all the way.
there is no other feeling like
that.
you will be alone with the gods
and the nights will flame with
fire.
do it, do it, do it.
do it.
all the way
all the way.
you will ride life straight to
perfect laughter, its
the only good fight
there is.
D
It reminded me of this:
"Roll the Dice"
if you’re going to try, go all the
way.
otherwise, don’t even start.
if you’re going to try, go all the
way.
this could mean losing girlfriends,
wives, relatives, jobs and
maybe your mind.
go all the way.
it could mean not eating for 3 or 4 days.
it could mean freezing on a
park bench.
it could mean jail,
it could mean derision,
mockery,
isolation.
isolation is the gift,
all the others are a test of your
endurance, of
how much you really want to
do it.
and you’ll do it
despite rejection and the worst odds
and it will be better than
anything else
you can imagine.
if you’re going to try,
go all the way.
there is no other feeling like
that.
you will be alone with the gods
and the nights will flame with
fire.
do it, do it, do it.
do it.
all the way
all the way.
you will ride life straight to
perfect laughter, its
the only good fight
there is.
D
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