Post by James Gilmore on Sept 23, 2021 2:59:52 GMT
”THE WAY”
September 21, 2021 - 3:30 PM
“I don’t like what I’m seeing with you and little Nicky Danger. Ya’ll are supposed to be boys?”
James Gilmore let his mind do the listening, pondering intently at his longtime friend’s question. As a Fastball tune played softly from his iPhone’s speaker, the Islander alum took a deep breath and sipped from a can of Orange-Vanilla Coke. At that moment, he hearkened back to the first time he spoke with one Nick Danger.
JJ saw something in Nick that, to be frank, nobody else had the courage to see. He saw this up-and-coming talent as having the “it” factor, that he was going to do bigger and better things than the older veteran ever dreamed. All JJ wanted to do, more than anything else, was offer a helping hand and show him what it meant to survive in a business rife with egos and brutes.
“They made up their minds
And they started packing
They left before the sun came up that day
An exit to eternal summer slacking
But where were they going without ever
Knowing the way?
They drank up the wine
And they got to talking
They now had more important things to say
And when the car broke down they started walking
Where were they going without ever
Knowing the way?”
”I’ve caught some of your promos over the last few weeks and this isn’t the loving Lil Bear that I’m used to…,” Rob’s voice pounded inside JJ’s head. Deep down, the Islander alum loved Nick Danger as he would his own son, Luke. Yet even he knew that, sometimes, a father would have to put his foot down and become a tougher, more stern, person.
He learned that lesson, more often than not, from his own father.
It’s like that country song “Daddy’s Hands”…the ex-Islander muttered to himself. Robert Lin Gilmore, JJ’s father, showed two different sides of his personality when he was a kid -- the soft and tender side for when he felt sad or frightened, and the hard-as-steel side for when he did something wrong. The latter was especially meaningful to JJ, helping to ensure that he brought out the best within himself and his family.
Tough love, it was called.
“Anyone can see the road that they walk on
Is paved in gold
And it's always summer
They'll never get cold
They'll never get hungry
They'll never get old and grey
You can see their shadows wandering off somewhere
They won't make it home
But they really don't care
They wanted the highway
They're happier there today, today”
JJ was merely trying to be patient, trying to ensure that he didn’t try to hurt Nick in any way. Yet he felt like Nick was still stuck in first gear, allowing his own big moment to get into his mind. As a mentor -- a father-figure -- JJ resolved to show Nick just how tough and brutal the world around him truly was.
“Their children woke up
And they couldn't find them
They left before the sun came up that day
They just drove off and left it all behind 'em
But where were they going without ever
Knowing the way?...”
He wanted to bring the best out of Nick Danger.
If JJ didn’t do that much, then...what would that say about him as a mentor and a dad?! He had to find a way to make sure that Nick understood his biggest lesson -- about how one responds after getting knocked down over and over again. It took the Islander alum years before he could finally pull himself together and rech the mountaintop.
Deep down? He didn’t want Nick Danger to be like the James Gilmore of old.
Trapped in a cage with nowhere to go.
“Listen to me, Nick.
I’m gonna be blunt...I saw what ya put on the feed, about wantin’ to prove you’re better than me. You’re lettin’ that big moment over Almir get inside your mind, it’s makin’ you wanna go for the big win and all that mess. But what if I told you...that you ain’t defined by how many people you’ve beat or how many title defenses you’ve had. It’s about how ya come back after a big fall, after you’ve failed at somethin’.
‘Cuz let’s face it, remember what Warren said?!
I’ve known him for years, I’ve seen him at his worst -- AND his best. Point is, he’s right...not everybody gets that once-in-a-million chance to succeed. This ain’t easy, it wasn’t meant to be easy. People spend their whole lives tryin’ to be successful at somethin’, yet most...they don’t get that promotion or that big-time raise or some trophy for employee of the year. That ain’t sunshine and rainbows, dude -- that’s just part of livin’.
Look at what happened with me, Rob, and Fi?
We fought together, we struggled together, and yeah...we fell together.
It took longer than what we wanted, but we finally reached the top of the mountain and then some. Thing is, though...part of bein’ a bigger person in this life is knowin’ how to respond after you’ve gotten your ass knocked down. Rob’s back in the ring, wants to face Ulf. Fi’s doin’ her own podcast -- AND a movie -- helpin’ her to make sure she’s able to keep her head on straight. Then there’s me, learnin’ what it’s like to be a dad.
Some choose to walk away for months -- sometimes years -- before makin’ that breakthrough.
How are you gonna respond when you fail at somethin’?!
That’s a l’il somethin’ I can’t teach -- that you’re gonna have to learn on your own two feet.
Ya wanna be better than me, I understand. Yet I also understand that particular mindset can’t last for very long. Week in and week out, you’re findin’ yourself stuck in that l’il box, in a comfort zone that’s prompted someone like Warren to think of you as rigid. I think you can be a helluva better than that, bud.
A helluva lot!
But there are times, Nick, when you’re gonna wind up learnin’ this stuff the hard way. The time’s come, bud...for you to start grindin’ your ass off. This business is full of dudes that’ll eat you alive, that’ll keep you down on your knees permanently, if you let ‘em.
To survive, you’re gonna have to think outside the box.
You’re gonna have to take risks -- and you might fail more often than you’ll succeed.
But that’s how you earn your keep and forge your own legacy.
I ain’t gonna sit there and blow Cheech & Chong smoke up your ass, Nick, ‘cuz that ain’t my job. Out there, in that ring or in front of a camera, we can’t afford to hold nothin’ back. We can’t afford to keep dwellin’ upon what ya did before -- it’s all in the past, but you gotta make the choice to move onward. No matter who wins or loses, we have to keep pushin’ ourselves -- it’s our job, it’s what we do. All the things we do in the field, all the social events and movie deals?! They’re just parts of livin’ this lifestyle -- sometimes you can have the best time of your life, where you can do nothin’ wrong, and STILL fall down.
Wrestlin’ is like bein’ a fighter pilot -- when you fail your mission, you’re compelled to evaluate what’s happened out there so you can apply what you’ve learned. How you choose to get back up?!
That’s your choice and yours alone.
I hope, Nick, that you sit down and realize what you’re doin’. I hope you can learn to push yourself away from the past so you can move forward with livin’.
Before it becomes too late…”
September 21, 2021 - 3:30 PM
“I don’t like what I’m seeing with you and little Nicky Danger. Ya’ll are supposed to be boys?”
James Gilmore let his mind do the listening, pondering intently at his longtime friend’s question. As a Fastball tune played softly from his iPhone’s speaker, the Islander alum took a deep breath and sipped from a can of Orange-Vanilla Coke. At that moment, he hearkened back to the first time he spoke with one Nick Danger.
JJ saw something in Nick that, to be frank, nobody else had the courage to see. He saw this up-and-coming talent as having the “it” factor, that he was going to do bigger and better things than the older veteran ever dreamed. All JJ wanted to do, more than anything else, was offer a helping hand and show him what it meant to survive in a business rife with egos and brutes.
“They made up their minds
And they started packing
They left before the sun came up that day
An exit to eternal summer slacking
But where were they going without ever
Knowing the way?
They drank up the wine
And they got to talking
They now had more important things to say
And when the car broke down they started walking
Where were they going without ever
Knowing the way?”
”I’ve caught some of your promos over the last few weeks and this isn’t the loving Lil Bear that I’m used to…,” Rob’s voice pounded inside JJ’s head. Deep down, the Islander alum loved Nick Danger as he would his own son, Luke. Yet even he knew that, sometimes, a father would have to put his foot down and become a tougher, more stern, person.
He learned that lesson, more often than not, from his own father.
It’s like that country song “Daddy’s Hands”…the ex-Islander muttered to himself. Robert Lin Gilmore, JJ’s father, showed two different sides of his personality when he was a kid -- the soft and tender side for when he felt sad or frightened, and the hard-as-steel side for when he did something wrong. The latter was especially meaningful to JJ, helping to ensure that he brought out the best within himself and his family.
Tough love, it was called.
“Anyone can see the road that they walk on
Is paved in gold
And it's always summer
They'll never get cold
They'll never get hungry
They'll never get old and grey
You can see their shadows wandering off somewhere
They won't make it home
But they really don't care
They wanted the highway
They're happier there today, today”
JJ was merely trying to be patient, trying to ensure that he didn’t try to hurt Nick in any way. Yet he felt like Nick was still stuck in first gear, allowing his own big moment to get into his mind. As a mentor -- a father-figure -- JJ resolved to show Nick just how tough and brutal the world around him truly was.
“Their children woke up
And they couldn't find them
They left before the sun came up that day
They just drove off and left it all behind 'em
But where were they going without ever
Knowing the way?...”
He wanted to bring the best out of Nick Danger.
If JJ didn’t do that much, then...what would that say about him as a mentor and a dad?! He had to find a way to make sure that Nick understood his biggest lesson -- about how one responds after getting knocked down over and over again. It took the Islander alum years before he could finally pull himself together and rech the mountaintop.
Deep down? He didn’t want Nick Danger to be like the James Gilmore of old.
Trapped in a cage with nowhere to go.
“Listen to me, Nick.
I’m gonna be blunt...I saw what ya put on the feed, about wantin’ to prove you’re better than me. You’re lettin’ that big moment over Almir get inside your mind, it’s makin’ you wanna go for the big win and all that mess. But what if I told you...that you ain’t defined by how many people you’ve beat or how many title defenses you’ve had. It’s about how ya come back after a big fall, after you’ve failed at somethin’.
‘Cuz let’s face it, remember what Warren said?!
I’ve known him for years, I’ve seen him at his worst -- AND his best. Point is, he’s right...not everybody gets that once-in-a-million chance to succeed. This ain’t easy, it wasn’t meant to be easy. People spend their whole lives tryin’ to be successful at somethin’, yet most...they don’t get that promotion or that big-time raise or some trophy for employee of the year. That ain’t sunshine and rainbows, dude -- that’s just part of livin’.
Look at what happened with me, Rob, and Fi?
We fought together, we struggled together, and yeah...we fell together.
It took longer than what we wanted, but we finally reached the top of the mountain and then some. Thing is, though...part of bein’ a bigger person in this life is knowin’ how to respond after you’ve gotten your ass knocked down. Rob’s back in the ring, wants to face Ulf. Fi’s doin’ her own podcast -- AND a movie -- helpin’ her to make sure she’s able to keep her head on straight. Then there’s me, learnin’ what it’s like to be a dad.
Some choose to walk away for months -- sometimes years -- before makin’ that breakthrough.
How are you gonna respond when you fail at somethin’?!
That’s a l’il somethin’ I can’t teach -- that you’re gonna have to learn on your own two feet.
Ya wanna be better than me, I understand. Yet I also understand that particular mindset can’t last for very long. Week in and week out, you’re findin’ yourself stuck in that l’il box, in a comfort zone that’s prompted someone like Warren to think of you as rigid. I think you can be a helluva better than that, bud.
A helluva lot!
But there are times, Nick, when you’re gonna wind up learnin’ this stuff the hard way. The time’s come, bud...for you to start grindin’ your ass off. This business is full of dudes that’ll eat you alive, that’ll keep you down on your knees permanently, if you let ‘em.
To survive, you’re gonna have to think outside the box.
You’re gonna have to take risks -- and you might fail more often than you’ll succeed.
But that’s how you earn your keep and forge your own legacy.
I ain’t gonna sit there and blow Cheech & Chong smoke up your ass, Nick, ‘cuz that ain’t my job. Out there, in that ring or in front of a camera, we can’t afford to hold nothin’ back. We can’t afford to keep dwellin’ upon what ya did before -- it’s all in the past, but you gotta make the choice to move onward. No matter who wins or loses, we have to keep pushin’ ourselves -- it’s our job, it’s what we do. All the things we do in the field, all the social events and movie deals?! They’re just parts of livin’ this lifestyle -- sometimes you can have the best time of your life, where you can do nothin’ wrong, and STILL fall down.
Wrestlin’ is like bein’ a fighter pilot -- when you fail your mission, you’re compelled to evaluate what’s happened out there so you can apply what you’ve learned. How you choose to get back up?!
That’s your choice and yours alone.
I hope, Nick, that you sit down and realize what you’re doin’. I hope you can learn to push yourself away from the past so you can move forward with livin’.
Before it becomes too late…”