The Blind Side

Humans are interesting. The things we do, the things we say, the things we choose. The things we don’t do, the things we keep quiet about, the things we choose not to do. The human mind fascinates me. With so many aspects in my life, I try to understand the reasoning behind things. This often leads to over-thinking things far too much. This is a positive as well as a negative, depending on the occasion and instance.

I wonder to what extent other people think as much as I do. The reason why I don’t sleep as well as I should is because I think too much. I have no issues going to sleep, but I wake up thinking about all the things I want to do the next day, and then I go back to sleep. Then I wake, and think some more. It is not a case of worrying about things. I do not worry about much, and if I do, then I am intent on doing something about it. But I think about what challenges and ideas I have, and how I can get wheels in motion. It goes back to when I was a child and I had very random sleeping experiences where I would sit up and talk in my sleep. It was usually a discussion around how a piece of Lego may or may not fit in my bedroom. We all have random quirks, and sleep is one of mine.

I wonder what makes me like Boxing and UFC. There is nothing in my childhood that explains why I enjoy seeing blokes in tight shorts beat each other up. I love watching it, it fascinates me, but at the same time, it does make me grimace on occasion. Some may find that strange, and I can accept that. I attended a UFC event in December with three good chaps who had never been to one previously. It was all going swimmingly well, with entertaining fights, but nothing too brutal, until one fighter’s arm snapped. Possibly not some people’s cup of tea I suspect. Some people take enjoyment from other people’s misfortunes or problems; I enjoy watching UFC and Boxing.

Watching is one thing but why do people actually become UFC fighters? What makes somebody decide to become a UFC fighter? There was an interesting dispute recently between ESPN and the UFC. ESPN were questioning the UFC and how they pay their fighters. Did you ever wonder how much a guy gets to fight in the UFC? They release the basic payments per fight with some of the top guys getting $250k per fight, and others getting as little as $4k-6k per fight. ESPN’s argument was somewhat flawed, but still, it does not hide from the fact that some guys will struggle to make $20k per year fighting. On the flipside, if you win or entertain fans, you get paid a fair bit more. I love watching it, but I find it hard to understand how some of them can fight for so little money. Though they probably cannot understand why I do what I do.

I read an interesting article today about boxing and how the sport desperately needs the star fighters to fight more often – currently Pacquiao fights twice a year and Mayweather once per year. My take on it is that the fighters themselves have a greater awareness of the risks involved and they too probably think long and hard about themselves and their careers. Easy advice to offer telling them to fight more, but the issue with those guys is that they get paid so much, they do not need to. Sadly, the guy making $4k per fight, has not option. Even tougher when they are probably equally aware of the dangers of their profession, but need to earn a living.

At what point do we decide to stop thinking? I am not sure. I can do it most of the time, but certainly there are things which linger in my mind. Working from home, I have a lot of time to think about things. If I overthink everything little thing, particularly the negatives, I would lead a pretty sad and miserable life. Thankfully I can often move on after the occasional sulk and slot them in the mind’s filing cabinet.

Last night I watched The Blind Side. It has to rate as one of my favourite sporting movies and definitely one of those feel good movies that I thoroughly enjoyed. I only realised at the very end of the movie that I was sat watching the very same Michael Oher a week ago when my Patriots were beating the Ravens. I had no idea about his story. I guess we all have stories. Some are more interesting than others, but we all have them and I enjoy hearing, listening, watching and reading about them. You can bet your life that the UFC fighters and Boxers that I watch have plenty of interesting stories too.

I like to think that I put a lot of time and effort into my relationships with friends and family, but sometimes I tell myself I should put more into certain relationships. Other times, I do not always feel like it is completely appreciated or returned. Watching that movie, it just reminded me that you can get so much pleasure and satisfaction out of what you put into other people….it is not always what you get back from them. And if you do not get anything back, they do not have that feeling of contributing to other lives. Their loss. A case of sticking to your beliefs and try doing the right thing regardless of what others do or think.

If you haven’t seen it, watch The Blind Side. Cheesy as this blog, but a great movie.