Against the currents of social media, progress
It’s a normal behavior in everyone’s feed: we post our best moments. But combined with everyone else’s, we create an illusion that no one else struggles, which is the main criticism platforms like Instagram and LinkedIn often get. It’s true to jobs, beauty, travel… everyone seems to be living a life more perfect than yours. At this point, most of us know they’re all lies. Yet, we fall for the trap and, by doing so, create one more Unattainable expectation for ourselves.
Worse: since we know our perfect life is a lie, we link our moments of victories to a lie we know. To a farce we can’t hide from ourselves. And that eliminates any chance of joy we may have with our little wins.
In martial arts, it isn’t different. And this is me trying to break the cycle. Posting a photo of myself being killed by my training partner Bartek. The dude is a monster. So freaking strong. When he got me into his guard I knew I was in trouble. The moment he got his legs around my hips and grips on my arm, he man handled me into this position and from that point on, I spent minutes unsuccessfully trying to get out of it. Ultimately, he found a way to tap me, but I must say: the fact I could resist that long against someone that strong and powerful is also a triumph of technique that makes me appreciate what I’m learning in #bjj even more. And it also gives me an interesting puzzle to solve.
For days I’ve been thinking about how to deal with his potent game. Or, in the same vein, how can I break other partners’ guard or avoid spending my entire time under someone’s pressure. These bad moments, these unsolvable challenges (because my partners are also progressing around my solutions) are what drive me the most. In a fun way, I mean. The unattainability of the evolving puzzle can be frustrating sometimes, but it’s real. Which makes me appreciate even more the victories when they happen, and team where I belong. So here it is. A post about a bad moment. Which happens to be a great one too. Oss.
Me, being choked by a giant