Post by Deleted on Jun 16, 2017 16:07:54 GMT -5
BOISE CITY, OKLAHOMA
Friday, June 16, 2017
Cheyenne gave me her trademark bright smile and a small peck on the lips as she handed me the food cooler we were taking on our second road trip. I smiled back at her, amazed at the blessing I had in her, as she went back to lock up the house and I put the cooler in the back of Cheyenne's souped up black F150 truck. Our first road trip from South Carolina to Oklahoma was very rocky as our farm-city dynamic clashed harshly when our rental vehicle broke down. But it ended it well. I learned that Cheyenne is immensely smarter than people give her credit. She may be a beautiful blonde with a stiff right cross and the strength of a horse, but she's also an astute farm girl and mechanic. Cheyenne learned that not all city guys are shallow, conceited, and only looking for their next shag. I had committed myself to her and in my Israeli background that meant the utmost respect to women. This first road trip forced us to have the courage to embrace our differences if we wanted our relationship to evolve.
So the moral of the story is courage.
But courage sometimes takes you to places you don't want to go. A week ago, I spent a couple nights in the Boise City jail. Why? Because I had the courage to break the nose of the assistant pastor of the First Baptist Church of Boise City after he suggested I call things off with Cheyenne because I'm nothing but a sideshow freak and he needed Cheyenne as his Victoria Osteen in his aspirations to be the next Bible Belt televangelist. So, I decked him. And fell for his trap. What a coincidence that the weekly women's bible study led by the town gossip and attended by Cheyenne's mother was going on in the sanctuary! The show he put on was definitely Emmy-Award winning to the point Mrs. Walker called her son, the Sheriff, to come do his duty. Obviously Cheyenne was pissed at me and let me think about things for a couple nights since I had an anger problem and there was no way the assistant pastor of the church and her childhood friend would ever be so conivving. This only happened in the big cities. Well, I'll let Cheyenne tell you how this all got resolved. Let's just say she mustered up the courage to re-fracture the assistant pastor's nose and ruin his chances of being the next Joel Osteen.
Again the moral of the story is courage.
Cheyenne and I were heading up to Colorado Springs for the night to get away from the recent drama in Boise City before heading to Nashville for the Union Battleground Pay-Per-View. We both needed the cool mountain air to refresh our souls. Cheyenne was working through a bitter revelation of a twisted family secret. In the meantime, I wanted to focus on the battle royale match at Guerrilla Warefare. The thought was gnawing at me after I destroyed Douglas Armatage at L!GHTS OUT #12. I needed to make a stronger impact in the Battleground. Xandor was just gaining momentum before his destiny came for him. If I sought to surpass Xandor's legacy, I was going to need an impressive showing in the battle royale.
This was going to take another level of courage.
After securing the food cooler in the back of the truck, I walked over to the driver's side and opened the door to get in when I caught a glimpse of the wide central plains horizon. Thunderstorm clouds were rolling in. A big nasty storm was coming. This was tornado season. I contemplated the incomprehensible horrors that bled their way into my consciousness. Would the Walkers be okay while we were gone? I refused to give in to the fear. This was not my battle. My battle involved 20 other competitors in Nashville on Sunday.
"Remember... you have the courage to be great, Xion." Thanks, Xandor.
“Courage. What is it? I have sat in frustrating contemplation of my upcoming Battleground match. A 20-person battle royal where two competitors start the match and every 90 seconds a new participant enters the ring. Eliminations are can only be had by pinfall, submission, or knockout. A daunting task with one opponent. Imagine with 19 other opponents? I have come to the conclusion that courage is everything opposite of what everyone defines it to be.”
I took a deep breath as I narrowed my eyes.
“Courage is not loud. It’s not about being the hero, not flashy, or vain. It can’t be earned or bought, given as a label or name. Courage is every little decision we make within the fabric of our lives. Decisions are hard and debilitating, yet without them we cannot move anywhere in life. If being great is being something more than the 'average Joe', then without courage, greatness is unattainable. Without courage no decisions would ever be made and we all have it, while often hidden, just awaiting the call of the bell to be able to come charging out towards a daunting situation.”
The storm clouds got closer, the wind picked up, and the sky began to darken.
“If I could condense the meaning of courage into simple terms, it’s this: courage is making the decision to carry on, the giant leap of faith, the nub of courage is faith. Not necessarily a religious kind of faith, if it was I could be considered a very courageous person; really it is more a deep willingness to discover something great, more often than not within ourselves.”
I clenched my jaw.
“Courage has been used in relation to my name a few times before, although I couldn't tell you why. For a while, I believed that courage was something prestigious, something used to describe a very significant, worthy kind of person like Xandor Kalel. Courage is not the absence of fear, but rather the judgment that something else is more important than fear.”
I turned as I saw Cheyenne ensure the front door was locked. She, too, caught a glimpse of the changing weather pattern.
“So I will walk into the Bridgestone Arena in Nashville, Tennessee, and though I may not win the battle royale, I will never desist, not today, not ever in achieving greatness. I will initiate the battle anew, displaying my rebellion against fear. I will face 19 other competitors at Guerrilla Warfare in defiance of everything said against me by my opponents. Nemesis, Crowbar, or whomever, I stand before you in courage awaiting to embrace my emerging greatness.”
Cheyenne made it to the truck, trying hard to keep her hair out of her face.
“A nasty one isa comin'! Good thing I locked everything down. You ready to do this?!”
I looked at Cheyenne more sure about what lies ahead than ever before.
“I wouldn’t miss it for the world.”
Friday, June 16, 2017
Cheyenne gave me her trademark bright smile and a small peck on the lips as she handed me the food cooler we were taking on our second road trip. I smiled back at her, amazed at the blessing I had in her, as she went back to lock up the house and I put the cooler in the back of Cheyenne's souped up black F150 truck. Our first road trip from South Carolina to Oklahoma was very rocky as our farm-city dynamic clashed harshly when our rental vehicle broke down. But it ended it well. I learned that Cheyenne is immensely smarter than people give her credit. She may be a beautiful blonde with a stiff right cross and the strength of a horse, but she's also an astute farm girl and mechanic. Cheyenne learned that not all city guys are shallow, conceited, and only looking for their next shag. I had committed myself to her and in my Israeli background that meant the utmost respect to women. This first road trip forced us to have the courage to embrace our differences if we wanted our relationship to evolve.
So the moral of the story is courage.
But courage sometimes takes you to places you don't want to go. A week ago, I spent a couple nights in the Boise City jail. Why? Because I had the courage to break the nose of the assistant pastor of the First Baptist Church of Boise City after he suggested I call things off with Cheyenne because I'm nothing but a sideshow freak and he needed Cheyenne as his Victoria Osteen in his aspirations to be the next Bible Belt televangelist. So, I decked him. And fell for his trap. What a coincidence that the weekly women's bible study led by the town gossip and attended by Cheyenne's mother was going on in the sanctuary! The show he put on was definitely Emmy-Award winning to the point Mrs. Walker called her son, the Sheriff, to come do his duty. Obviously Cheyenne was pissed at me and let me think about things for a couple nights since I had an anger problem and there was no way the assistant pastor of the church and her childhood friend would ever be so conivving. This only happened in the big cities. Well, I'll let Cheyenne tell you how this all got resolved. Let's just say she mustered up the courage to re-fracture the assistant pastor's nose and ruin his chances of being the next Joel Osteen.
Again the moral of the story is courage.
Cheyenne and I were heading up to Colorado Springs for the night to get away from the recent drama in Boise City before heading to Nashville for the Union Battleground Pay-Per-View. We both needed the cool mountain air to refresh our souls. Cheyenne was working through a bitter revelation of a twisted family secret. In the meantime, I wanted to focus on the battle royale match at Guerrilla Warefare. The thought was gnawing at me after I destroyed Douglas Armatage at L!GHTS OUT #12. I needed to make a stronger impact in the Battleground. Xandor was just gaining momentum before his destiny came for him. If I sought to surpass Xandor's legacy, I was going to need an impressive showing in the battle royale.
This was going to take another level of courage.
After securing the food cooler in the back of the truck, I walked over to the driver's side and opened the door to get in when I caught a glimpse of the wide central plains horizon. Thunderstorm clouds were rolling in. A big nasty storm was coming. This was tornado season. I contemplated the incomprehensible horrors that bled their way into my consciousness. Would the Walkers be okay while we were gone? I refused to give in to the fear. This was not my battle. My battle involved 20 other competitors in Nashville on Sunday.
"Remember... you have the courage to be great, Xion." Thanks, Xandor.
“Courage. What is it? I have sat in frustrating contemplation of my upcoming Battleground match. A 20-person battle royal where two competitors start the match and every 90 seconds a new participant enters the ring. Eliminations are can only be had by pinfall, submission, or knockout. A daunting task with one opponent. Imagine with 19 other opponents? I have come to the conclusion that courage is everything opposite of what everyone defines it to be.”
I took a deep breath as I narrowed my eyes.
“Courage is not loud. It’s not about being the hero, not flashy, or vain. It can’t be earned or bought, given as a label or name. Courage is every little decision we make within the fabric of our lives. Decisions are hard and debilitating, yet without them we cannot move anywhere in life. If being great is being something more than the 'average Joe', then without courage, greatness is unattainable. Without courage no decisions would ever be made and we all have it, while often hidden, just awaiting the call of the bell to be able to come charging out towards a daunting situation.”
The storm clouds got closer, the wind picked up, and the sky began to darken.
“If I could condense the meaning of courage into simple terms, it’s this: courage is making the decision to carry on, the giant leap of faith, the nub of courage is faith. Not necessarily a religious kind of faith, if it was I could be considered a very courageous person; really it is more a deep willingness to discover something great, more often than not within ourselves.”
I clenched my jaw.
“Courage has been used in relation to my name a few times before, although I couldn't tell you why. For a while, I believed that courage was something prestigious, something used to describe a very significant, worthy kind of person like Xandor Kalel. Courage is not the absence of fear, but rather the judgment that something else is more important than fear.”
I turned as I saw Cheyenne ensure the front door was locked. She, too, caught a glimpse of the changing weather pattern.
“So I will walk into the Bridgestone Arena in Nashville, Tennessee, and though I may not win the battle royale, I will never desist, not today, not ever in achieving greatness. I will initiate the battle anew, displaying my rebellion against fear. I will face 19 other competitors at Guerrilla Warfare in defiance of everything said against me by my opponents. Nemesis, Crowbar, or whomever, I stand before you in courage awaiting to embrace my emerging greatness.”
Cheyenne made it to the truck, trying hard to keep her hair out of her face.
“A nasty one isa comin'! Good thing I locked everything down. You ready to do this?!”
I looked at Cheyenne more sure about what lies ahead than ever before.
“I wouldn’t miss it for the world.”