Mountain Poem by Bill Upton

Years ago I wrestled a bear
Who was the main promotion for a shopping mall Halloween weekend.
His name was 'Victor- the Rasslin' Bear',
And standing at 8 feet 3 inches on his 2 legs,
650 pounds, and undefeated in his wrestling career,
He traveled town to town wrestling pro football players
And professional wrestlers.
Not only did he possess 'animal' strength,
But he was well-trained in wrestling moves.
When I got into the ring, I looked across at him,
And I was introduced, mentally, to a hopeless situation.
I had 3 minutes in front of about 1000 screaming people
To either pin him, be pinned, or be used as a rag doll.
He pushed me around the ring with such strength in his arms
That I didn't have a plan that would work.
I decided to make a potentially suicidal move on him
As I dove at his legs, trying to wrap them up and pull him down.
From my knees it felt like I was trying to pull a tree trunk
Out of cement.
He navigated around me and put his weight against my back
While I was on all fours.
Crazy thoughts went through my mind, and none of them
Offered any escape plan.
Typical wrestling moves were not working here,
And he was trying to push me flat to the ground,
But I stayed on my knees, still moving around as best I could
To get from being under him.
Blood flowed out of the knees of my pants from friction
Caused by his increased force to pin me.
My survival instincts were dwindling in number.
It felt that there was a building on my back, crumbling down,
And I was going to be buried alive.
Finally, mercifully, the longest 3 minutes ever
Was up.
Victor had retained his crown.

The reason for this story is that it mimics life.
We encounter ferocious problems in life-
Problems that seem not to have solutions.
But, no matter how dire they seem, we should always try
To put forth effort to the best of our limits to solve them.
Some problems CANNOT be defeated-
To me, Victor could not be defeated.
However, it is the fight within us that matures
During battles with Goliath.
Within the attempt to defeat the unthinkable,
We hone our skills for battling smaller problems.

We don't fight Victor everyday.
We don't frequently go to war with Goliath,
But each and every day we are more prepared for life
Because ONCE we stood up to our fear of the impossible.