Post by James Gilmore on Mar 8, 2022 0:00:25 GMT
“What the hell’s happened to me since last September?!
Long story short, I took a break. I took the time to take care of my wife and two kiddoes – at least, that WAS the original idea. Then, some crazed dude decided to put three bullets in my left leg last December as I was about to host a self-defense field exercise. Three months of rehab, three LONG months of workin’ in order to get my strength back.
Now...I’m back.
I’m back and more focused on competin’ than I’ve EVER been before. As I’m sittin’ here thinkin’, the demon cloud in my dream’s tellin’ me...why, JJ?! Why would a dude like you wanna put yourself through more hardship and torture?! Why would you wanna be spendin’ MORE time away from Yulia and Company?!
Why, JJ? Why would ya wanna put yourself in the Roulette, knowin’ what you’ve faced in the past?!
Knowin’ about the hell it took to get to this moment...”
James Gilmore stood in the parking lot outside Rising Dragons Academy, eyes closed and taking in a chilly northwesterly wind. This was the very scene where he got shot; to this day, he still has visions of the incident in his mind. He heard the screams, the sirens. He saw himself lying in the pavement, bleeding from his left leg.
Yet as he meditated, the American and Texas flags were still waving.
“I ain’t gonna sugarcoat this, even though I’m under time constraints.
There’s a whole bunch of you out there who wanna hurt me really badly. All I’m gonna say...is go on right ahead, hurt me if it makes you feel any better. I can be a cold-hearted, Spike Kane-wannabe like Rob Diamond, I ain’t no different from him or anyone else, but I don’t wanna hurt people’s feelings. Yeah, I talk to too much – but I also listen too much. It’s easy to get all riled up about this or that, about every setback or screw-up along the way.
After all, what’s the point of seekin’ immortality when ya wanna absolve yourself of everything you were?!
That’s the Roulette’s all about, a shot at immortality on the biggest stage of ‘em all. You know it, I know it...thirty of us want that shot, but only one of us is gonna EARN it.
And nobody is gonna leave this rumble unscathed!“
It was 8:00 AM, time to start the day anew.
He had a lot of things on the docket this Monday morning – the most important of which being his first of two self-defense seminars. He often used his wrestling holds as a teaching tool to help trainees learn how to defend themselves. In effect, the Islander alum wanted to ensure that nobody went through the same things he did in his life.
In the end, it was going to be worthwhile on many levels.
“Here’s the thing, dudes.
We ALL have somethin’ that we love to hold onto, our very own reason for doin’ this thing we do. For me, I came back ‘cuz I wanted to prove a point, to prove to the world that NOTHIN’ I ever earned in this company was by fluke or accident. I came back ‘cuz I spent the past three years climbin’ up a mountain of bullcrap that was, in hindsight, created on my part prior to 2018. It’s the type of bullcrap that your mind can’t begin to erase – even as you hit 40 years old and beyond.
You know the feelin’ whenever no matter what you do, the past is gonna stick like Krazy Glue.
That’s what growin’ is really all about. That’s what ‘dare to dream’ meant...that no matter how tough-minded you THINK you are, the scars – good or bad – will always be there. I can look at my trophy case with fond memories and realize that I was good at somethin’ other than playin’ video games. Shared Hero of the Year, StrongStyle Champ, World Champ, Superstar of the Year?!
Those ain’t fake, those ain’t flukes.
Those are just cold, hard FACTS.
I EARNED those things...and I’ll always be forever grateful. ‘Cuz not everybody gets to succeed in terms of titles and stuff like that. Not everybody gets to hold a belt up high much less keep it for thirty days. That’s the honest-to-God, brutal truth about this life that, time and again, I’ve seen people take for granted by thinkin’ it’s a license to look down upon others as inferior to themselves.
Only one of youse is gonna earn that shot at immortality – a shot at bein’ a champ.
But it’s gonna come at great cost.”
JJ took a sip from a piping hot mug of coffee, watching as his first students trickled onto the scene.
“You’re GONNA go through hell and back in order to earn this shot.
I said this once but I’ll say it one more time...hell ain’t exactly the funnest place in the world, but it sure feels liberatin’. You can say whatever ya wanna say about me, you can write whatever ya like, but guess what...I can’t changin’ a damn thing about myself. I don’t need no stinkin’ face paint or some other mouthpiece to prove to the world that I am one of the best who’s laced up a pair of boots.
I...I like me. Fiona likes me. My wife Yulia, along with my two kiddoes, like me.
What you see is you what you get – THAT’S who I am.
That might’ve sounded a bit harsh, but it’s time that this daddy puts his foot down and says ‘enough is enough!’ I don’t hide from scars, I don’t run from alphas, I don’t cower to demons or god complexes, I just kick the livin’ snot out of ‘em! And if you ain’t down with, I’ve got two words for ya…”
He nodded lovingly before welcoming each trainee individually. The small class responded kindly before engaging in warm-up exercises. Indeed, the pilgrimage was only just beginning.
“WATCH ME.”
---
WORD COUNT (via LibreOffice): 997
Long story short, I took a break. I took the time to take care of my wife and two kiddoes – at least, that WAS the original idea. Then, some crazed dude decided to put three bullets in my left leg last December as I was about to host a self-defense field exercise. Three months of rehab, three LONG months of workin’ in order to get my strength back.
Now...I’m back.
I’m back and more focused on competin’ than I’ve EVER been before. As I’m sittin’ here thinkin’, the demon cloud in my dream’s tellin’ me...why, JJ?! Why would a dude like you wanna put yourself through more hardship and torture?! Why would you wanna be spendin’ MORE time away from Yulia and Company?!
Why, JJ? Why would ya wanna put yourself in the Roulette, knowin’ what you’ve faced in the past?!
Knowin’ about the hell it took to get to this moment...”
James Gilmore stood in the parking lot outside Rising Dragons Academy, eyes closed and taking in a chilly northwesterly wind. This was the very scene where he got shot; to this day, he still has visions of the incident in his mind. He heard the screams, the sirens. He saw himself lying in the pavement, bleeding from his left leg.
Yet as he meditated, the American and Texas flags were still waving.
“I ain’t gonna sugarcoat this, even though I’m under time constraints.
There’s a whole bunch of you out there who wanna hurt me really badly. All I’m gonna say...is go on right ahead, hurt me if it makes you feel any better. I can be a cold-hearted, Spike Kane-wannabe like Rob Diamond, I ain’t no different from him or anyone else, but I don’t wanna hurt people’s feelings. Yeah, I talk to too much – but I also listen too much. It’s easy to get all riled up about this or that, about every setback or screw-up along the way.
After all, what’s the point of seekin’ immortality when ya wanna absolve yourself of everything you were?!
That’s the Roulette’s all about, a shot at immortality on the biggest stage of ‘em all. You know it, I know it...thirty of us want that shot, but only one of us is gonna EARN it.
And nobody is gonna leave this rumble unscathed!“
It was 8:00 AM, time to start the day anew.
He had a lot of things on the docket this Monday morning – the most important of which being his first of two self-defense seminars. He often used his wrestling holds as a teaching tool to help trainees learn how to defend themselves. In effect, the Islander alum wanted to ensure that nobody went through the same things he did in his life.
In the end, it was going to be worthwhile on many levels.
“Here’s the thing, dudes.
We ALL have somethin’ that we love to hold onto, our very own reason for doin’ this thing we do. For me, I came back ‘cuz I wanted to prove a point, to prove to the world that NOTHIN’ I ever earned in this company was by fluke or accident. I came back ‘cuz I spent the past three years climbin’ up a mountain of bullcrap that was, in hindsight, created on my part prior to 2018. It’s the type of bullcrap that your mind can’t begin to erase – even as you hit 40 years old and beyond.
You know the feelin’ whenever no matter what you do, the past is gonna stick like Krazy Glue.
That’s what growin’ is really all about. That’s what ‘dare to dream’ meant...that no matter how tough-minded you THINK you are, the scars – good or bad – will always be there. I can look at my trophy case with fond memories and realize that I was good at somethin’ other than playin’ video games. Shared Hero of the Year, StrongStyle Champ, World Champ, Superstar of the Year?!
Those ain’t fake, those ain’t flukes.
Those are just cold, hard FACTS.
I EARNED those things...and I’ll always be forever grateful. ‘Cuz not everybody gets to succeed in terms of titles and stuff like that. Not everybody gets to hold a belt up high much less keep it for thirty days. That’s the honest-to-God, brutal truth about this life that, time and again, I’ve seen people take for granted by thinkin’ it’s a license to look down upon others as inferior to themselves.
Only one of youse is gonna earn that shot at immortality – a shot at bein’ a champ.
But it’s gonna come at great cost.”
JJ took a sip from a piping hot mug of coffee, watching as his first students trickled onto the scene.
“You’re GONNA go through hell and back in order to earn this shot.
I said this once but I’ll say it one more time...hell ain’t exactly the funnest place in the world, but it sure feels liberatin’. You can say whatever ya wanna say about me, you can write whatever ya like, but guess what...I can’t changin’ a damn thing about myself. I don’t need no stinkin’ face paint or some other mouthpiece to prove to the world that I am one of the best who’s laced up a pair of boots.
I...I like me. Fiona likes me. My wife Yulia, along with my two kiddoes, like me.
What you see is you what you get – THAT’S who I am.
That might’ve sounded a bit harsh, but it’s time that this daddy puts his foot down and says ‘enough is enough!’ I don’t hide from scars, I don’t run from alphas, I don’t cower to demons or god complexes, I just kick the livin’ snot out of ‘em! And if you ain’t down with, I’ve got two words for ya…”
He nodded lovingly before welcoming each trainee individually. The small class responded kindly before engaging in warm-up exercises. Indeed, the pilgrimage was only just beginning.
“WATCH ME.”
---
WORD COUNT (via LibreOffice): 997
Well howdy there pardner.