Wrestling....a life perspective!

A couple of months ago Julie and I had my sons over for dinner (which was delicious.)  I was excited to show them some old home movies I had made of them wrestling for El Modena High School's team.  During those years I would go to every match and watch Mark and Bobby represent their school.  For me it was my favorite spectator sport.  I would cheer and scream until my voice gave out.   While listening to the audio part of the video you can actually hear me above the crowd screaming, "Rip his head off, kill him, take him down, etc., etc."  They won most of their matches and I couldn't have been happier.  When the referee would raise my sons hand up in victory everyone would cheer (as seen below with my son Bobby.)
   What surprised me was their candor while watching these old videos.  Both boys described how nervous they would be before a match, how much exertion they had to give during the match and how much they hated those feelings. To quote Mark, "It was awful!"  I was so involved with how I was feeling watching them,  I didn't realize how hard it was participating for them.  They did mention how some kids would just give in to have a match over quickly, so they could go back to the bench and hang out with their friends.  My sons tried every match.
    Life is a lot like a wrestling match.  Usually, when there's a conflict, only one side is considered the winner.  The winner may not even be happy when they win.  The loser may not be that unhappy when they lose.  We don't really understand all of the emotions that any one person is going through during a conflict. The observers may never really know what the combatants are feeling.  I know I didn't.  If we are being watched, do the spectators really know how we are feeling?  Do we want them too? Maybe, maybe not.
   During my divorce I wanted every person to know my side.  I wanted to be understood, I was afraid if the spectators didn't hear my reasons I would be vilified. When Julie was going through her divorce she wanted anonymity.  She didn't want to talk about it.  In fact, one of her favorite activities would be to take a walk in Target.  She would look around and realize that no one knew her or her story--and that gave her comfort.  Two very different views. Was either right? Or was it right for each person?
  All of that being said, if I had wrestled instead of playing the trombone in high school I would have worn a mask and cape!