The TRUTH about PAIN.

Pain. Inevitable and UNIVERSAL

Emotional pain can rear it's ugly head from bullying, grief, confusion of purpose, loss of dignity and the list goes on.

Rick Warren, Pastor of Saddleback Church, was depressed for an entire year in 1981, right after he launched the church in 1980.

Michael Phelps, dreamcatcher, arrived at the top of the mountain. Realizing there was nothing there, in 2014 he found temporary distraction through alcohol. A subsequent DUI was enough to cause him to come tumbling down the mountain. Five days of isolation, he didn't leave his room, didn't eat, didn't sleep. Michael openly shares his thoughts at that time.

"Probably be better without me, people won't have to deal with it. I just figured that the best thing to do was just to end my life"

Rener Gracie herniated a disc at 19 years old which kept him off the mat for nearly a year. Physical pain was accompanied with a mandatory respite from the mat! Anathema for someone who makes their living teaching Gracie Jiu Jitsu!

PAIN is REAL

The important question is :

CAN PAIN BE USED FOR GOOD?

Rick Warren could have allowed his depression to rule his life but he persevered and Saddleback weekly church attendance now averages over 20,000 people with over a dozen worldwide campuses. In my recent trip to California in addition to attending the Instructor Certification Program at the Gracie Academy, was able to go to Saddleback for three services. Here's our family with Pastor Rick.

Among the help and steps Phelps took to address his pains, he buried himself in a book that Ray Lewis, former Baltimore Ravens NFL player had given him. The book happened to be Rick Warren's book :

Ray Lewis with Michael Phelps

If you are not up to date on his current Olympics achievements, read here to be encouraged.

Having read the book, I can highly recommend it and in fact, if you come to GRACIE DURHAM and would like a copy of it - I will give you one absolutely free.

Rener Gracie could have been "Woe is me!". Instead, he used his enforced sabbatical to create Gracie University which has reached over 125,000 people enrolled in nearly 200 countries!

Another REALITY about PAIN.

There is an anticipation of PAIN called FEAR.

FEAR is the what keeps us from potential PAIN.

We don't let our kids cross a busy road by themselves because we are afraid of the pain they will receive from a car.

People exercise and eat healthy to avoid the PAIN of an unhealthy lifestyle.

There are potential problems with avoidance fears for example :

Someone might not choose honesty for FEAR of being JUDGED.

Agreeing to an unethical business decision or process for FEAR of losing their JOB.

What are the fears that prevent YOU

from walking through the doors of a

Gracie Jiu Jitsu Certified Training Center?

Are you worried that you will not be strong enough or athletic enough to handle the more experienced people?

Is it a concern that your job and lifestyle have put you in a physical condition where you just don't feel "ready" to train something as daunting as "JIU JITSU".

If you feel a little muscle soreness after your first day because you haven't used those muscles in that way for so long, does that PAIN confirm for you that you made a mistake to try?

Do you think about how you will feel if the techniques are too hard for you and you just can't get it? You're not "smart" enough, limber enough or whatever.

At GRACIE DURHAM and all Certified Training Centers, we know that in 10 minutes we can answer most of the questions in a way that will make sense. Just to make sure though, we want you to train with us for 10 days and we guarantee all the questions and fears will be answered in that time.

We invite you to put us to the test by visiting GRACIE DURHAM the next chance you get AND don't allow fear or PAIN to get in the way of your life. Pastor Rick Warren, Michael Phelps, Rener Gracie and numerous others persisted , using their PAIN for GOOD, became stronger, helped themselves and more importantly, helped countless others.