WHY?

James Buster Douglas was a boxer in the late 80s and 90’s. he was considered to be a bum, a nobody in the boxing world. He was ranked # 7 in the world. He was certainly no match for “Iron” Mike Tyson who was ranked # 1 in the world. Mike Tyson was known to be one of the best and most dangerous fighters in the world. With a majority of his wins coming by knock out most within the first few rounds of the fight. There was no way Buster Douglas would ever be able to beat Mike Tyson and Mike Tyson knew it. To make matters worse, Buster Douglas had gotten out of rehab for alcohol, his wife just left him, The mother of his child was clinging to life and his mother had died 23 days before the fight. Months before the fight, I’m sure His mother was all over town bragging about how proud she was of her son and how he was going to kick mike Tyson's butt. He knew how proud his mother would be of him, he had to win the fight for her. So on the night of February 11, 1990 in Tokyo Japan the everyone knew what to expect. Everyone expected the mismatched Buster Douglas to be knocked out in minutes. But, to the worlds surprise Buster Douglas held his own. He took some stern blows during the fight. There was a point when he had actually even gotten knocked down.  The referee counts 5,6,7 but by 8 Buster Douglas was back on his feet. When he got knocked down, as he was laying there on the mat he remembered 'WHY" he needed to win in the first place. That night Buster Douglas wasn’t fighting for a belt or money; he was fighting this fight for the honor and memory of his mother. He was fighting to fulfill a promise to his mother . He was fighting to make his mother proud. SO when he got knocked down, he had reasons to get back up and keep fighting. His reason "WHY" was so strong that not only did he get back up, but he got back up and managed to deliver Mike Tyson his first knock out. Las Vegas Book makers had odds on the fight of 42 to 1, which made James Buster Douglas's victory  one of the greatest upsets ever in sports history.

I guess my point is, whenever you have an objective or a goal that you are looking to accomplish. Whenever you are trying to succeed at anything. YOU WILL ENCOUNTER BUMPS AND BRUISES, YOU WILL ENCOUNTER OBSTACLES, YOU WILL ENCOUNTER SETBACKS, YOU WILL GET KNOCKED DOWN! What will determine whether you lay there and decide to give up or get back up and keep fighting will be the reason "WHY" you wanted to succeed in the first place. You will need a strong enough reason “WHY” to get back up. Your "WHY" could be your parents, could be your children, it could be your cat or your friends or to prove naysayers wrong. It could be anything. But I have learned that in order to succeed you MUST always know your reasons "WHY"

I recommend you write your list of "WHYS" down. Keep it in your wallet or in the back of your mind or something. When life knocks you down, pull out that list and get back up and keep fighting. If When big tough, mean life is standing over us after it has knocked us down, pull out that list of "WHY"s get back up keep fighting and I promise you that you will beat tremendous odds, and accomplish wonderful and amazing things that no one ever expected us to also. WE WILL BEAT TREMENDOUS ODDS TOO! All it requires is a strong enough reason "WHY"!

He who has a "WHY" to live can bear almost any how.

-Friedrich Nietzsche

 

WHEN LIFE KNOCKS YOU DOWN, REMEMBER WHY YOU WERE FIGHTING IN THE FIRST PLACE AND GET BACK UP!

 

PEACE!