Post by unstoppable on Sept 24, 2007 21:49:19 GMT -6
Had to break it up so i could...fit it in. First post is character development storyline... second post is the trash talking stuff. Enjoy!
The correlation of knowledge is as follows. The more you understand others, the more you can understand yourself.
It is early Monday morning. The birds are waking up from their peaceful slumber, blissfully proclaiming the rise of a new day with melodic chirping. Fresh dew covers the grass, signifying the renewing circle of our daily lives. All is calm and serene, until a car pulls into a suburban driveway. Tension fills the air as a man takes his first step out of his car, walking purposefully to the front door.
Inside, however, lies a different scene. It is early, perhaps too early to be awake. The air is filled not with brightness, but of the almost eerie glow of the sun piercing windows, sending in a glare that would pierce even the strongest of visions. Coffee is brewing, bringing with it the potential for renewed vigor and activity to combat the effects of
awakening to a new day. The bathroom is filled with activity as another man prepares to face the trials and tribulations of another day in society. He is awake, but just barely. This man spent the majority of last night celebrating a mental victory which bloomed brilliantly from an initial defeat. He could use a few more hours of sleep, but he has things to do and people to see. He has a busy day planned, perhaps uncharacteristically so, and he can’t afford to let the morning hours slip away from him. He slips his pants on his slender frame before a knock interrupts his proceedings.
“Who in the world could be here at this hour?”
The young man walks toward the door, pulling on a grungy black shirt, his attempt at being somewhat presentable to the early morning visitor. Once he gets to the door he is treated to a rather interesting sight. Dan Harvey, leaning against the frame of the door inside his house.
“I figure I’d knock before I let myself in. Common courtesy after all. You don’t mind do you Lestat?”
He says, the confident grin growing on his face. He tosses the key he used to let himself in to Lestat who appears visibly upset and confused by the sudden nature of it all.
“Yeah, actually I do mind. Who in the hell do you think you are barging into my house like…”
His tirade is interrupted as Dan moves into the kitchen, the aroma of the coffee grabbing his interest.
“Where do you think you’re going? Get back here! I was talking to you!”
With a wave of his hand, dismissing Lestat’s righteous anger, Dan moves into the kitchen, pouring himself a cup of coffee. He sets down a bag on the kitchen table before moving the two cups of coffee to the living room.
“Oh yes, please by all means help yourself to MY coffee!”
“Oh relax will you? I brought donuts. The least you could do is share some coffee.”
Any man in this situation would be furious at someone barging into their house unannounced. In some parts of the country Dan’s antics would get him shot. In fact, he lives in that part of the country. Generally he would take a different approach to all of this, but on the request of another, he is here to shake up Lestat. There is no better way of doing that then going to his territory, and barking for authority.
Amazingly Lestat hasn’t thrown the man out by now. His anger was slowly starting to subside, being replaced by another emotion. He was getting interested in all of this, temporarily amused by his brazen actions. He’ll humor him, for now anyways.
“Alright… before I call the police let me ask you a few questions. First, why do you have a key to my house? Second, why are you here bothering me this early in the morning?”
By this point Dan has made himself comfortable in the living room. With a donut in one hand and a cup of coffee in the other, he gazes up at Lestat before motioning with his head toward the bag of donuts in the kitchen.
“Fire gave it to me. She wanted me to come in and talk to you. She said it’d be alright if I came in a bit early.”
Lestat rolls his eyes at the news. Of course, it did make sense. Who else would give him a key to the house? Who else would have the lack of common courtesy to have someone barge into his house and lecture him? It had to be Fire.
“I need a drink…”
“Might I suggest your coffee? It’s delicious.”
Lestat glares out of the corner of his eyes at Dan as he moves in and grabs a cup of coffee. If he is going to hear a lecture then he should at least be coherent about it. Neglecting to get a donut, Lestat quickly returns to the living room, sitting down on the couch across from Dan.
Dan moves his eyes over Lestat, taking note of the cup of coffee and no donut in hand.
“Alright. First let me say you’re lucky I was already awake. Second, you’re damn lucky I didn’t have a gun nearby. Third…”
Dan casually interrupts him.
“You don’t like donuts?”
Lestat can feel the anger starting to build behind his right eye, threatening to twitch as he is interrupted.
“Excuse me?”
“You didn’t get a donut. I bought these donuts just for you. They’re your favorite kind.”
“How do you know what my favorite donut is? You just assume that…”
“Everybody loves chocolate Lestat. Come on. Go get a donut. I know it’d make me feel a lot better about all of this.”
He then wiggles the donut suggestively at the man who owns the couch he’s lounging on.
“They’ve got sprinkllllllllles!”
Sometimes a man has to know when to give in. If he were to kick Dan’s ass right now, as much as he’d be in the right, he’d get a lecture from Fire which would probably be worse than anything this man could have in store for him. Almost reluctantly he gets up and grabs a donut and a saucer. Stomping back into the living room, Lestat sits down.
“There! You happy now?”
Dan grins and nods, putting the donut safely on the corner of the table, using a napkin to protect the furniture and floor.
“Very. Now we can get down to business. Do you have any idea why Fire wants me to talk to you?”
Lestat shakes his head, unable to figure out a reason why Fire would do this. Then again, it’s hard for him to figure out why Fire does a lot of things, and who could blame him.
“Please… share.”
After taking a delightful sip of coffee Dan smirks looking at the young man before him.
“You have so much potential, and practically all of it is being wasted because your head is in the wrong place. You lost the Television title to King Cobra.”
It’s now Lestat’s turn to interrupt someone, cutting Dan off before he could continue on.
“I had an off night.”
“Of course you did. There isn’t anything wrong with that. I’ve had them too. There’s no shame in losing a title when you put forth the right kind of effort in retaining it. It just wasn’t your night. What concerns me is what you did the following week.”
Lestat turns his head to the side, gazing out the window as the sun travels over his face. He mumbles over toward the visitor sitting in his chair.
“Is this about Ryan Knight?”
“No, this isn’t about Ryan Knight. It’s about you. You threw the tag titles away! You had the match won. All you had to do is finish the job and you would still have the titles in hand. Instead you let pride get the best of you, beating your partner to a bloody pulp and fed him to the wolves!”
Lestat’s amusement is starting to run thin as his actions are being questioned.
“Is this going anywhere? I don’t see the point you’re trying to make here.”
With a heavy sigh, Dan continues.
“Doesn’t that seem a bit selfish and short sighted to you?”
His head snaps over toward Dan, glaring intently through the man who dare challenge him in his own home.
“Who in the hell do you think you are?”
“Well does it?”
“Where do you get off calling me selfish? It wasn’t my choice to team up with Ryan Knight! It wasn’t my choice to defend the titles against all those teams!”
“But it was your choice to throw away the titles.”
Lestat is starting to raise his voice, growing more and more frustrated with him.
“I’d rather die than defend the tag title with someone like Ryan Knight!”
With another cool sip of the coffee, Dan continues to explain.
“And it was that kind of logic that cost Silver his championship as well. Don’t you understand Ryan Knight was only a temporary fix? POW management didn’t want to see you throw the tag titles away by defending them yourself. I’m pretty certain Silver doesn’t appreciate losing his title because you couldn’t keep your head in the game.”
With a more calm voice, Lestat questions Dan’s logic.
“Just where are you going with this?”
Putting the cup of coffee down on the table by his donut, Dan casually makes an observation.
“Isn’t it obvious where I’m going with this? You aren’t focused. Your lack of focus cost you two titles in the course of two weeks.”
That was the final straw. Lestat slams his fist on the coffee table, nearly breaking it. Dan, however, seems unaffected by the outburst.
“Am I wrong? Were you focused on winning your match or were you intent on causing pain to Ryan Knight?”
“What difference does it make what my intentions where? I did what I wanted to do!”
Dan finally stands up and moves over toward Lestat, getting eye to eye with the young man. He tries to put a hand on his shoulder, but it is quickly brushed off.
“Because you’re focusing on the wrong things. You’re more worried about your personal vendettas instead of winning your matches, and it’s costing you more than you think. If you want to get anywhere in this business you have a choice you have to make. You can either chase your personal rivalries, and allow them to bite you in the ass every chance they get, or you can focus on winning, proving to everyone who the superior wrestler is. What do you think Ryan is going to do the first opportunity he gets? He’s going to try and break you for what you did to him, as would any man. The only problem is you have bigger things you have to worry about, like getting back what you lost.”
Lestat hasn’t punched him yet, so it can be assumed that he is at least partially listening to what the man has to say, much to his credit and patience.
“Don’t worry about me. I’ll get it back. I have plans in the works, just you wait and see.”
Dan smirks, standing within arms reach of a practically infuriated individual.
“I will be watching you Lestat. I want you to impress me. Don’t let me down. I’ll go ahead and let myself out. You think about what I said though. Enjoy the donuts.”
----------------------------------------------------------
“I don’t know why I agreed to do it Doctor. I mean, I did it because a friend asked me, but I’m not one to stick my nose in other peoples business without good reason.”
Dan retorted, after telling his therapist, Dr. Wischler about the events that transpired this morning. The middle aged man watched Dan’s reactions to his own story, writing down minimal musings in his pad of legal paper. After a brief moment of silence he begins to probe into the story.
“Sounds like a very complex issue. So you believe the intention of your actions have more to it than just helping out a friend?”
Dan sits up on the comfortable leather chair, his hands resting on his knees as he talks, trying to sort through it all in his head.
“They have to be. After all, I’ve been asked by friends to train their family, spouses, loved ones, and each time I turn them down. I’ve even turned down requests for interventions with others. I’m not qualified to do that type of thing.”
Resting his pen on his chin, the good doctor notes a critical observation.
“And yet you felt qualified to help this man in particular?”
This causes another moment of silence. Dan leans his back against the chair as he thinks over his response. The good thing about the interaction between the two is silence is not awkward. It is contemplative.
“I believe so yes. I’ve seen this type of thing happen before. In the business it’s so easy to get caught up with trying to settle personal vendettas. It’s happened to all of us. Unfortunately, it appears like he is about to get lost in a world of constant retribution. He’s got great potential, but he has no control. He’s let the world get the best of him twice already, and now it appears like it’s about to happen again. I’ve heard from Fire that it’s happened before. He loses focus and allows his emotions to take over. He even injured one of his best friends and tag team partner. Then, like I told you, he allowed his emotions to get the best of him two weeks in a row. If he can just find a way to control those emotions he’d be unstoppable. I know from personal experience how hard it can be to master your emotions when you are in the middle of a fight.”
“You bring up an interesting point Dan. A lot of therapists would deem it appropriate to let your emotions flow without obstruction. Perhaps you could elaborate on what you mean when you say mastering your emotions.”
It’s hard to put things into words at times. When you deal with a concept so often it is easy to lose track of what you exactly mean. It helps to conceptualize it occasionally, keeping everything into perspective.
“I guess you could say mastering your emotions means allowing yourself to have them without being overpowered by the force of it all. For example, if you are angry or frustrated, you can either let the situation overwhelm you or you can utilize the anger and use it to get what you need done. I guess it’s just the difference between being productive with your emotions or letting them destroy you.”
“And you believe this young man is unable to control his emotions but you are correct?”
Dan drapes his right ankle over his left leg, his hands relaxing on the arms of the chair.
“Correct.”
Dr. Wischler puts the pen down on his lap, bringing both hands up, using them for nonverbal communication, gesturing from left to right as he talks.
“Earlier you said something interesting. You spoke about knowing how difficult it could be to control your emotion from past experience. Care to share a little about that situation?”
That was a touchy subject, but one that Dan was able to discuss without getting too worked up. It has been several years since it happened, the wounds now healed.
“When I first got married, my wife and I were having difficulty making it work.”
In order to get clarification Dr. Wischler interrupts.
“By making it work, what are you referring to?”
Dan sighs as he begins to think of a different way to explain the background of the situation.
“Well in the wrestling business marriages involving someone who is in the business and someone who isn’t can be very difficult. You are on the road a lot, when you are home you’re exhausted, there are a lot of trust issues, rumors become a problem. It’s very rare to see a marriage under those kind of conditions last very long. Well my wife and I were falling into the same pattern. She would call me at odd hours of the night, waking me up in my hotel room wondering if I was out partying or cheating on her. She had trust issues with me being gone so much. There were times when I believed one of two things would happen; either we would get a divorce, or I would be forced to quit wrestling.”
The doctor puts his index fingers on his chin, thinking about the situation thoroughly.
“Sounds like it was a very trying time for you mentally Dan. How did it make you feel knowing she didn’t trust you?”
Dan ran a hand over his face, sighing once more. It was a very dark time for him and reliving it was becoming more and more tiresome.
“It made me feel like I was doing something wrong. Even though I knew I never cheated on anyone before, and I especially would never cheat on Sarah, I still felt like I was responsible for her pain and mistrust. It started to get the best of me. I started losing matches left and right. I couldn’t focus on what I had to do and there were times when my boss would come up to me and talk to me about retiring before it got really bad. That was the worst right there. When someone tells you at the age of twenty five you need to retire… it stings.”
The connections were starting to fall into place. There were several issues the doctor wanted to address, but he could only take one route at a time. The first issue he would take into consideration would be the problem with the young man, as that seemed more prevalent on his clients mind.
“Sounds like you empathize greatly with this young man you were told to help. Do you believe that could have had anything to do with your decision to reach out?”
Dan shifts in his seat, putting his leg down so the blood flow can circulate again past his ankle.
“Probably so, yes. I’d definitely have to say I see a lot of myself when I was younger in him. He is going through strange problems and it looks like he isn’t relying on anyone but himself to fix them. I know it’s difficult for his friends to deal with because they’ve talked to me about it before. I just hope I’m not doing this to anyone myself.”
“Do you believe you are doing this to anyone?”
“No. I don’t think so. Ever since I took some time off to get things settled with Sarah I vowed to never let my emotions get the best of me again. So far I’ve been able to live up to that promise and I’ve had unparalleled professional success.”
The doctor looks at his watch before noting down a few things on his pad. After he is finished his turns his attentions back to his client.
“We are just about out of time but I wanted to touch on one more thing before I call it an evening. You mentioned your wife earlier. In previous sessions you talked about your decision to retire had a lot to do with your wife’s passing. You’ve also talked about in the past you used wrestling to fill some kind of mental void you had in your life. I’m concerned that your decision to return to the ring has to do with an inability to grieve over Sarah’s death. Do you still feel any kind of void in your life?”
This was quite the issue to end a session on. It had a considerable impact not only on his future but the future of his child. It was something Dan needed to take very seriously.
“It’s been awhile since I’ve felt this complete. I wouldn’t have returned to wrestling if I didn’t feel alright with everything. I can’t afford to let myself be sucked into wrestling like that. Only bad things can come of it, especially when I have a little girl to think about. While I can’t say my wife’s death has nothing to do with me returning to wrestling, I can tell you I’ve made sure I was mentally prepared for what I signed up for. My wife is gone. There is nothing I can do to change that. The best I can do is to continue forward and look myself in the mirror each day and smile. I’m back to doing what I love to do, and I’m doing it with a company that understands my needs as a father. I’m home five days out of the week, i get my tickets paid for, and they make sure I’m able to get to a phone if an emergency back home comes up. So do I feel any void in my life? Yeah, of course I do. There is nothing that will ever be able to take the place in my heart my wife left, but at the same time I can’t let that cripple me financially or professionally either. I have a responsibility to my daughter, and I am intent on keeping up my end of the bargain. I’m a father first, wrestling second. ”
The correlation of knowledge is as follows. The more you understand others, the more you can understand yourself.
It is early Monday morning. The birds are waking up from their peaceful slumber, blissfully proclaiming the rise of a new day with melodic chirping. Fresh dew covers the grass, signifying the renewing circle of our daily lives. All is calm and serene, until a car pulls into a suburban driveway. Tension fills the air as a man takes his first step out of his car, walking purposefully to the front door.
Inside, however, lies a different scene. It is early, perhaps too early to be awake. The air is filled not with brightness, but of the almost eerie glow of the sun piercing windows, sending in a glare that would pierce even the strongest of visions. Coffee is brewing, bringing with it the potential for renewed vigor and activity to combat the effects of
awakening to a new day. The bathroom is filled with activity as another man prepares to face the trials and tribulations of another day in society. He is awake, but just barely. This man spent the majority of last night celebrating a mental victory which bloomed brilliantly from an initial defeat. He could use a few more hours of sleep, but he has things to do and people to see. He has a busy day planned, perhaps uncharacteristically so, and he can’t afford to let the morning hours slip away from him. He slips his pants on his slender frame before a knock interrupts his proceedings.
“Who in the world could be here at this hour?”
The young man walks toward the door, pulling on a grungy black shirt, his attempt at being somewhat presentable to the early morning visitor. Once he gets to the door he is treated to a rather interesting sight. Dan Harvey, leaning against the frame of the door inside his house.
“I figure I’d knock before I let myself in. Common courtesy after all. You don’t mind do you Lestat?”
He says, the confident grin growing on his face. He tosses the key he used to let himself in to Lestat who appears visibly upset and confused by the sudden nature of it all.
“Yeah, actually I do mind. Who in the hell do you think you are barging into my house like…”
His tirade is interrupted as Dan moves into the kitchen, the aroma of the coffee grabbing his interest.
“Where do you think you’re going? Get back here! I was talking to you!”
With a wave of his hand, dismissing Lestat’s righteous anger, Dan moves into the kitchen, pouring himself a cup of coffee. He sets down a bag on the kitchen table before moving the two cups of coffee to the living room.
“Oh yes, please by all means help yourself to MY coffee!”
“Oh relax will you? I brought donuts. The least you could do is share some coffee.”
Any man in this situation would be furious at someone barging into their house unannounced. In some parts of the country Dan’s antics would get him shot. In fact, he lives in that part of the country. Generally he would take a different approach to all of this, but on the request of another, he is here to shake up Lestat. There is no better way of doing that then going to his territory, and barking for authority.
Amazingly Lestat hasn’t thrown the man out by now. His anger was slowly starting to subside, being replaced by another emotion. He was getting interested in all of this, temporarily amused by his brazen actions. He’ll humor him, for now anyways.
“Alright… before I call the police let me ask you a few questions. First, why do you have a key to my house? Second, why are you here bothering me this early in the morning?”
By this point Dan has made himself comfortable in the living room. With a donut in one hand and a cup of coffee in the other, he gazes up at Lestat before motioning with his head toward the bag of donuts in the kitchen.
“Fire gave it to me. She wanted me to come in and talk to you. She said it’d be alright if I came in a bit early.”
Lestat rolls his eyes at the news. Of course, it did make sense. Who else would give him a key to the house? Who else would have the lack of common courtesy to have someone barge into his house and lecture him? It had to be Fire.
“I need a drink…”
“Might I suggest your coffee? It’s delicious.”
Lestat glares out of the corner of his eyes at Dan as he moves in and grabs a cup of coffee. If he is going to hear a lecture then he should at least be coherent about it. Neglecting to get a donut, Lestat quickly returns to the living room, sitting down on the couch across from Dan.
Dan moves his eyes over Lestat, taking note of the cup of coffee and no donut in hand.
“Alright. First let me say you’re lucky I was already awake. Second, you’re damn lucky I didn’t have a gun nearby. Third…”
Dan casually interrupts him.
“You don’t like donuts?”
Lestat can feel the anger starting to build behind his right eye, threatening to twitch as he is interrupted.
“Excuse me?”
“You didn’t get a donut. I bought these donuts just for you. They’re your favorite kind.”
“How do you know what my favorite donut is? You just assume that…”
“Everybody loves chocolate Lestat. Come on. Go get a donut. I know it’d make me feel a lot better about all of this.”
He then wiggles the donut suggestively at the man who owns the couch he’s lounging on.
“They’ve got sprinkllllllllles!”
Sometimes a man has to know when to give in. If he were to kick Dan’s ass right now, as much as he’d be in the right, he’d get a lecture from Fire which would probably be worse than anything this man could have in store for him. Almost reluctantly he gets up and grabs a donut and a saucer. Stomping back into the living room, Lestat sits down.
“There! You happy now?”
Dan grins and nods, putting the donut safely on the corner of the table, using a napkin to protect the furniture and floor.
“Very. Now we can get down to business. Do you have any idea why Fire wants me to talk to you?”
Lestat shakes his head, unable to figure out a reason why Fire would do this. Then again, it’s hard for him to figure out why Fire does a lot of things, and who could blame him.
“Please… share.”
After taking a delightful sip of coffee Dan smirks looking at the young man before him.
“You have so much potential, and practically all of it is being wasted because your head is in the wrong place. You lost the Television title to King Cobra.”
It’s now Lestat’s turn to interrupt someone, cutting Dan off before he could continue on.
“I had an off night.”
“Of course you did. There isn’t anything wrong with that. I’ve had them too. There’s no shame in losing a title when you put forth the right kind of effort in retaining it. It just wasn’t your night. What concerns me is what you did the following week.”
Lestat turns his head to the side, gazing out the window as the sun travels over his face. He mumbles over toward the visitor sitting in his chair.
“Is this about Ryan Knight?”
“No, this isn’t about Ryan Knight. It’s about you. You threw the tag titles away! You had the match won. All you had to do is finish the job and you would still have the titles in hand. Instead you let pride get the best of you, beating your partner to a bloody pulp and fed him to the wolves!”
Lestat’s amusement is starting to run thin as his actions are being questioned.
“Is this going anywhere? I don’t see the point you’re trying to make here.”
With a heavy sigh, Dan continues.
“Doesn’t that seem a bit selfish and short sighted to you?”
His head snaps over toward Dan, glaring intently through the man who dare challenge him in his own home.
“Who in the hell do you think you are?”
“Well does it?”
“Where do you get off calling me selfish? It wasn’t my choice to team up with Ryan Knight! It wasn’t my choice to defend the titles against all those teams!”
“But it was your choice to throw away the titles.”
Lestat is starting to raise his voice, growing more and more frustrated with him.
“I’d rather die than defend the tag title with someone like Ryan Knight!”
With another cool sip of the coffee, Dan continues to explain.
“And it was that kind of logic that cost Silver his championship as well. Don’t you understand Ryan Knight was only a temporary fix? POW management didn’t want to see you throw the tag titles away by defending them yourself. I’m pretty certain Silver doesn’t appreciate losing his title because you couldn’t keep your head in the game.”
With a more calm voice, Lestat questions Dan’s logic.
“Just where are you going with this?”
Putting the cup of coffee down on the table by his donut, Dan casually makes an observation.
“Isn’t it obvious where I’m going with this? You aren’t focused. Your lack of focus cost you two titles in the course of two weeks.”
That was the final straw. Lestat slams his fist on the coffee table, nearly breaking it. Dan, however, seems unaffected by the outburst.
“Am I wrong? Were you focused on winning your match or were you intent on causing pain to Ryan Knight?”
“What difference does it make what my intentions where? I did what I wanted to do!”
Dan finally stands up and moves over toward Lestat, getting eye to eye with the young man. He tries to put a hand on his shoulder, but it is quickly brushed off.
“Because you’re focusing on the wrong things. You’re more worried about your personal vendettas instead of winning your matches, and it’s costing you more than you think. If you want to get anywhere in this business you have a choice you have to make. You can either chase your personal rivalries, and allow them to bite you in the ass every chance they get, or you can focus on winning, proving to everyone who the superior wrestler is. What do you think Ryan is going to do the first opportunity he gets? He’s going to try and break you for what you did to him, as would any man. The only problem is you have bigger things you have to worry about, like getting back what you lost.”
Lestat hasn’t punched him yet, so it can be assumed that he is at least partially listening to what the man has to say, much to his credit and patience.
“Don’t worry about me. I’ll get it back. I have plans in the works, just you wait and see.”
Dan smirks, standing within arms reach of a practically infuriated individual.
“I will be watching you Lestat. I want you to impress me. Don’t let me down. I’ll go ahead and let myself out. You think about what I said though. Enjoy the donuts.”
----------------------------------------------------------
“I don’t know why I agreed to do it Doctor. I mean, I did it because a friend asked me, but I’m not one to stick my nose in other peoples business without good reason.”
Dan retorted, after telling his therapist, Dr. Wischler about the events that transpired this morning. The middle aged man watched Dan’s reactions to his own story, writing down minimal musings in his pad of legal paper. After a brief moment of silence he begins to probe into the story.
“Sounds like a very complex issue. So you believe the intention of your actions have more to it than just helping out a friend?”
Dan sits up on the comfortable leather chair, his hands resting on his knees as he talks, trying to sort through it all in his head.
“They have to be. After all, I’ve been asked by friends to train their family, spouses, loved ones, and each time I turn them down. I’ve even turned down requests for interventions with others. I’m not qualified to do that type of thing.”
Resting his pen on his chin, the good doctor notes a critical observation.
“And yet you felt qualified to help this man in particular?”
This causes another moment of silence. Dan leans his back against the chair as he thinks over his response. The good thing about the interaction between the two is silence is not awkward. It is contemplative.
“I believe so yes. I’ve seen this type of thing happen before. In the business it’s so easy to get caught up with trying to settle personal vendettas. It’s happened to all of us. Unfortunately, it appears like he is about to get lost in a world of constant retribution. He’s got great potential, but he has no control. He’s let the world get the best of him twice already, and now it appears like it’s about to happen again. I’ve heard from Fire that it’s happened before. He loses focus and allows his emotions to take over. He even injured one of his best friends and tag team partner. Then, like I told you, he allowed his emotions to get the best of him two weeks in a row. If he can just find a way to control those emotions he’d be unstoppable. I know from personal experience how hard it can be to master your emotions when you are in the middle of a fight.”
“You bring up an interesting point Dan. A lot of therapists would deem it appropriate to let your emotions flow without obstruction. Perhaps you could elaborate on what you mean when you say mastering your emotions.”
It’s hard to put things into words at times. When you deal with a concept so often it is easy to lose track of what you exactly mean. It helps to conceptualize it occasionally, keeping everything into perspective.
“I guess you could say mastering your emotions means allowing yourself to have them without being overpowered by the force of it all. For example, if you are angry or frustrated, you can either let the situation overwhelm you or you can utilize the anger and use it to get what you need done. I guess it’s just the difference between being productive with your emotions or letting them destroy you.”
“And you believe this young man is unable to control his emotions but you are correct?”
Dan drapes his right ankle over his left leg, his hands relaxing on the arms of the chair.
“Correct.”
Dr. Wischler puts the pen down on his lap, bringing both hands up, using them for nonverbal communication, gesturing from left to right as he talks.
“Earlier you said something interesting. You spoke about knowing how difficult it could be to control your emotion from past experience. Care to share a little about that situation?”
That was a touchy subject, but one that Dan was able to discuss without getting too worked up. It has been several years since it happened, the wounds now healed.
“When I first got married, my wife and I were having difficulty making it work.”
In order to get clarification Dr. Wischler interrupts.
“By making it work, what are you referring to?”
Dan sighs as he begins to think of a different way to explain the background of the situation.
“Well in the wrestling business marriages involving someone who is in the business and someone who isn’t can be very difficult. You are on the road a lot, when you are home you’re exhausted, there are a lot of trust issues, rumors become a problem. It’s very rare to see a marriage under those kind of conditions last very long. Well my wife and I were falling into the same pattern. She would call me at odd hours of the night, waking me up in my hotel room wondering if I was out partying or cheating on her. She had trust issues with me being gone so much. There were times when I believed one of two things would happen; either we would get a divorce, or I would be forced to quit wrestling.”
The doctor puts his index fingers on his chin, thinking about the situation thoroughly.
“Sounds like it was a very trying time for you mentally Dan. How did it make you feel knowing she didn’t trust you?”
Dan ran a hand over his face, sighing once more. It was a very dark time for him and reliving it was becoming more and more tiresome.
“It made me feel like I was doing something wrong. Even though I knew I never cheated on anyone before, and I especially would never cheat on Sarah, I still felt like I was responsible for her pain and mistrust. It started to get the best of me. I started losing matches left and right. I couldn’t focus on what I had to do and there were times when my boss would come up to me and talk to me about retiring before it got really bad. That was the worst right there. When someone tells you at the age of twenty five you need to retire… it stings.”
The connections were starting to fall into place. There were several issues the doctor wanted to address, but he could only take one route at a time. The first issue he would take into consideration would be the problem with the young man, as that seemed more prevalent on his clients mind.
“Sounds like you empathize greatly with this young man you were told to help. Do you believe that could have had anything to do with your decision to reach out?”
Dan shifts in his seat, putting his leg down so the blood flow can circulate again past his ankle.
“Probably so, yes. I’d definitely have to say I see a lot of myself when I was younger in him. He is going through strange problems and it looks like he isn’t relying on anyone but himself to fix them. I know it’s difficult for his friends to deal with because they’ve talked to me about it before. I just hope I’m not doing this to anyone myself.”
“Do you believe you are doing this to anyone?”
“No. I don’t think so. Ever since I took some time off to get things settled with Sarah I vowed to never let my emotions get the best of me again. So far I’ve been able to live up to that promise and I’ve had unparalleled professional success.”
The doctor looks at his watch before noting down a few things on his pad. After he is finished his turns his attentions back to his client.
“We are just about out of time but I wanted to touch on one more thing before I call it an evening. You mentioned your wife earlier. In previous sessions you talked about your decision to retire had a lot to do with your wife’s passing. You’ve also talked about in the past you used wrestling to fill some kind of mental void you had in your life. I’m concerned that your decision to return to the ring has to do with an inability to grieve over Sarah’s death. Do you still feel any kind of void in your life?”
This was quite the issue to end a session on. It had a considerable impact not only on his future but the future of his child. It was something Dan needed to take very seriously.
“It’s been awhile since I’ve felt this complete. I wouldn’t have returned to wrestling if I didn’t feel alright with everything. I can’t afford to let myself be sucked into wrestling like that. Only bad things can come of it, especially when I have a little girl to think about. While I can’t say my wife’s death has nothing to do with me returning to wrestling, I can tell you I’ve made sure I was mentally prepared for what I signed up for. My wife is gone. There is nothing I can do to change that. The best I can do is to continue forward and look myself in the mirror each day and smile. I’m back to doing what I love to do, and I’m doing it with a company that understands my needs as a father. I’m home five days out of the week, i get my tickets paid for, and they make sure I’m able to get to a phone if an emergency back home comes up. So do I feel any void in my life? Yeah, of course I do. There is nothing that will ever be able to take the place in my heart my wife left, but at the same time I can’t let that cripple me financially or professionally either. I have a responsibility to my daughter, and I am intent on keeping up my end of the bargain. I’m a father first, wrestling second. ”