When I was 13 years old, several things happened to me that changed my life forever. Things changed in many different areas of my life, and while discovering pro wrestling may be on the lower end of the scale, it was a valuable change.
I remember coming across it by accident when I was watching boxing videos on YouTube. At first it caught my interest, but it hadn’t hooked me until I watched a certain YouTuber.
Daniel Bryan. He was incredible to watch. The first time I saw him, he was trying to beat the Shield with his tag team partner Kane. However, it wasn’t long before he was going after the WWE Championship. Soon the “YES Movement” was born, but that’s another story for another time.
At this point, I know what you are thinking. First, why does any of that matter, and second, how did that change your life?
As mentioned before, I was 13 at the time, and I don’t know if you remember being 13, but at that time, I was trying to figure out who I was and if I was comfortable being myself.
So, when I found wrestling, it opened up a whole new world. A world of characters and stories mixed with action-packed matches, it was every 13-year-old boy’s dream.
Well, my dream anyway. Because for me, it reflected my personality and gave me the confidence to be myself because, being 13, I had a lot of insecurities at the time.
I began to discover the behind scenes of wrestling. With this information I would hear repeatedly that “the best characters are the person’s personality turned up to 11.” When I heard this, it caused me to self-reflect, and while many of my friends followed the trends or went with the flow of the crowd. I began to go a different direction and became more and more comfortable in my skin. It helped my confidence.
The most important thing it did for me was open a brand new creative door in my life. It inspired me in ways that I had never have been inspired before.
As I began to teach in Sunday school, I was able to apply a lot of the phycology and storytelling I had learned from Pro-Wrestling.
Pro-Wrestling made me realize that whatever I did with my life. I had to be able to exercise my creativity.
As time went on and I continued to grow, there were always principles I had learned from Pro wrestling making appearances. I couldn’t escape it.
Then at college, when I was trying to figure out what I wanted to pursue as a degree and career, I realized that what pulled me into the Pro-Wrestling world was the production and storytelling aspects of it.
All because of Daniel Bryan and the story he was able to tell in the ring and with his promos.
If it weren’t for Pro-Wrestling, I would have never started writing or started “The Synergist.”
I probably wouldn’t love teaching as much because I love the creative aspect of developing lessons, mainly for Sunday school. After all, I’m able to let the creativity and storytelling flow.
It’s incredible to look back on your life and see the impact that moments and people have had on it and the direction it takes you, but that’s the beauty of life.
Often things you wouldn’t expect to impact you, Impact you the most.
So, don’t take the little things for granted because God can use anything to direct your life, from donkeys to Pro-Wrestling and everything in between. Just keep your eyes on God, and he will direct your path.
