The Journey

Since my surgery I’ve been pretty quiet.  Actually, I guess it’s been a lot longer than that, since I never even wrote anything about getting injured, finding out I needed knee surgery, or any of it.  I suppose I’ve just had a lot of thoughts, but not the will to put them down.  It’s been an interesting time, filled with periods of loneliness, desire, and in the end, a realization about some stuff. 

Sitting on the sidelines has honestly been the worst part.  The people around me, former teammates, current teammates, people I grew up with have all been improving themselves, making a name for themselves, hell one guy even made it to the finale of the Ultimate Fighter, while I’m unable to train or even do much.  I know this may come off as a giant pity party for me, but that’s not my intent at all.  If anything, being sidelined has strengthened my resolve and made me hungrier for success.  They say every setback is a new opportunity to prove yourself, and that’s exactly how I feel.  Never have I been more motivated to get into shape (and stay there), train hard, and get myself ready.  All I have thought about is training, sparring, improving, and fighting. My last fight was February of 2008, over two years ago.  That is too goddamn long.  Come August when I can get back to training, I WILL get in shape. I WILL have top notch cardio. I WILL train hard every day (regardless of how tired, sore, etc I am).  I WILL fight and I will succeed in the end.  Enough is enough.  It’s funny how you never truly appreciate something until it’s gone.

The support I’ve had has been amazing.  Lynn has been more supportive and caring than I could have imagined.  She has been a tremendous help (especially considering she’s gone through this same surgery) with recovering, getting around, and everything.  It’s night and day the relationship we have compared to when I was with Taylor.  I’ve never been with a girl, who despite not really being able to vocalize her feelings, goes out of her way to make sure I know I’m loved and she’s behind me in everything.  When I’ve been down, she’s been there to kiss me and pick me back up. She’s been the first to find things for us to do, even while I could barely walk.  She’s been great in helping me move up in my job, and has been behind me 100% of the way with the combo of work and training (even when it means there are days we don’t get to spend a ton of time together).  I honestly couldn’t ask for more from her.