I am a HUGE sumo wrestling fan – no pun intended. It is sumo season this month, which means for fourteen days there are matches taking place. This was the cover story in the sports world in Japan this week. This is a shot of the champion taking his opponent down with a move that has not been seen in five years. The champion was able to flip his opponent by using his own weight against him. When I saw this I got excited, like the crowd member in the upper left corner of the picture. Check out his face…he looks exactly how I felt when I saw the replay on the news…unbelievable!
To me it is the pagentry, the ritual, the skill involved in sumo…that is what I find astounding. This is a sport where the athlete makes a complete and utter commitment to his craft. He lives it every day, not just during the season…every day he has to make a choice to support his sport and his life. He lives in a special place, eats a special diet, trains every day, and practices for a match which in some cases may only last six seconds. He is not a wrestler by sport, he is a wrestler for life.
Sumo makes me feel like a lightweight – again, no pun intended. I think I am committed to things, and then am reminded by this elite group of men that I have no idea what commitment really means. I have choices and make choices that may or may not support my ultimate goal, yet I still have choice. When I an honest with myself, I know that I do not always make choices that support my goal…my flesh is weak and I often choose poorly. I choose the easy route or slack off, or forget to do things when I really want to be committed. Too often I choose the easy route, not the sumo route.
Today, I encourage you to be committed to your goal, your dream, your idea. And not just a western version of commitment, a sumo version. Make it your life long pursuit, something worth changing your life to complete. Something you would spend a lifetime training to win, even if the match only takes six seconds. The sumo route is not the easy route, yet in the sumo route a lifestyle IS the goal. Be willing today to change your lifestyle to reach your goal.
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