"The fight is won or lost, far away from witnesses- behind the lines, in the gym, and out there on the road, long before I dance under those lights."
-Muhammad Ali
I am sitting in a brightly lit Coffee Bean, using the complimentary Wifi and blocking out the activity of the baristas and customers around me, blocking the aroma of coffee being ground and blended, blocking the shifting chairs scraping the floor, the drinks being slurped through purple straws, and mouths moving in inaudible flux. To be honest, I suppose I'm also blocking out the fact that I live out of bags and sleep on an orange couch (circa 1970) in a compact dance studio -blocking out the fact that my current dance partner has terminated our professional relationship because he was seeking a personal one.
Now, in reality, the room I live in is the basement dance studio of a beautiful home in Whittier Hills. It's cute and cozy, but definitely not the Ritz Carlton. Bags strewn on the floors contain all my belongings and as I turn around this coffee shop and spot the sophisticated homeless man with his shopping cart parked outside, charging his Toshiba laptop, I can relate.
Actually, recently I caught a break. I'm sure most can identify with this moment. When you throw your hands up in the air and thank the universe for gracing you with such good fortune. This could be in the form of a job, money, an offering, a partnership, training, an introduction, an apprenticeship, or sometimes clothed in the disguise of a calamity that brings you closer to your destiny. Whatever the method of delivery, the opportunity presents itself. However sometimes in the excitement, you don’t fully inspect the hand which grants you with such a gift and the giver becomes a representation of tribulation, aggression, oppression, distress, adversity, worry and vexation. And when the giver has ulterior intentions, the wave of gratitude and inspiration you felt is washed away by a feeling of helplessness; because in that moment, you feel a false desperation for that person. And you feel helpless because you’re balancing your self worth, how you should be treated, and pride against your future. You’re weighing out the price it takes to get to your dreams.
This situation is becoming more and more familiar to a lot of us. Given the current economic crisis, employers and superiors in every field are taking advantage of their current state of limited power and have abused their authorities.
So this causes me to ask the burning question: How much does one person have to give up in order to achieve their goals? Or more importantly-what does it take to achieve greatness? What defines greatness?
Some of us have goals and dreams and some of us want to aspire to some form of greatness. But in the competition known as life, there can only be one winner, one great man, one great victor. And it’s hard to say exactly what it takes to be in the discussion for the best at what you do.
I have adopted the notion that it is possible for flawed, broken beings full of limitless determination to struggle through the odds, and rise to greatness. That despite low incomes, closed doors, uncertain fates, abuse, slander and other negativity, there is an opportunity in every man’s life to take what’s been done to him and transform the ugliness into something beautiful. That in each of us, there is a chance to create the human being that was always meant to thrive, to create a life without inhibition, to nurture dreams with vigorous faith.
I know I have a responsibility to see my vision to the finish line. To transcend past my circumstances and to realize I am defined only by what I believe... and I believe I am great. I was great before I strapped the laces of my dance shoes, I was great before I knew how to put speech to paper, great before I uttered these words or wrote this sentence. I stand unguarded to say nothing will stop me. Come hell or high water, nothing can shake me. No events, no medals, no words own me or define me. I am transcendent. I have changed my life for the game and I will change the game, one step at a time. I will send ripples through dimensions and times of this sport. No one moment, whisper, or event can hold me down.
I'm getting in the ring, putting on the gloves, ready to fight. I'm putting time on the floor, in the gym, making the impossibilities, possibilities. I have won the battle far before I have danced under these lights. It's undeniable. It is my destiny.
“I am the greatest, I said that even before I knew I was.”
~ Muhammad Ali
