Do Something Bigger

Thanks to everyone who purchased the book on Thursday's launch day.  You helped us reach #3 on the Amazon.com health and fitness bestseller list and 85th overall out of every book on Amazon.  That's quite an achievement, but as many of you probably don't know, this was a non-profit book.  Since there were sixteen authors and a portion of the sales revenue went towards publishing costs to begin with, rather than split the remainder sixteen ways, they decided to "do something bigger," and all royalties are being donated to Marketers for Good (for more information, see www.MarketersForGood.com).  Financially I came out behind by making this book, but I could honestly care less.  I wasn't looking to make a ton of money; I was just excited to get my name out there as a published author.

What are some ways that you can do something bigger?  If you're a high school or college student, chances are you can't make monetary donations to help the sport, but you can always donate your time and energy.  If you're a wrestler and you don't have a lot of energy, you've got an even bigger problem.  Try volunteering as a coach for a youth team or some camps or clinics, teach some beginners how to wrestle, or become a referee.  Coaching or officiating wrestling will help you more than you realize, as it will force you to become more familiar with the fine details of each technique and the ins and outs of all the rules.  Since I still can't wrestle because of my eye, I've been helping some of the newer wrestlers at RPI's practices, and I can already see how this could further my knowledge of the sport.  I was finding out this week that I could do the move effortlessly due to muscle memory, but I often had a hard time describing exactly how to execute it.

I told you on Thursday that that day was the big day.  Well, October 5th is the next big day coming up.  That is when I have my next checkup with the retina specialist, where I will find out once and for all whether or not I can wrestle this year.  Watching everyone wrestle this week while not being able to jump in there on the mat myself was painful, and as hard as the training is, I really miss the daily grind of practicing, competing, and getting in the best shape possible.  I would be willing to sacrifice a lot of things to be able to wrestle again, but my vision is not one of them, so I'm going to accept it as it is.  On October 5th I'll find out whether I start my final college season or begin my coaching career.

Do something big,
Jeff

P.S.  Today is the final day of competition at the World Championships, and Team USA has three medalists and five fifth places so far.  Jake Varner took third at 96 kg in Men's Freestyle, and Adeline Gray and Ali Bernard each won the bronze in the women's competition at 67 and 72 kg, respectively.  Today Jordan Burroughs will battle for the gold medal at 74 kg in Freestyle and Tervel Dlagnev will go for third at 120 kg.