Klessinger: Learn from buffalo: run straight into difficulty

Editor’s Note: This article originally appeared in WIN’s Volume 30 Issue 5. WIN Digital subscribers can access every issue dating back to October of 2011 in WIN’s digital archive! 

By John Klessinger

I saw something recently that really piqued my interest. It was about buffaloes and how they respond to storms. If a storm is coming, the buffalo will run right into the storm. This was unusual, so I investigated it a little more and found an article that talked about how buffalo and cows cohabitate in the Midwest due to the geography of mountains and plains. Or at least at close by in proximity.

When a storm is coming, a cow will try to flee the storm. Run away from it. Ultimately, the cow will hit the entire storm from beginning to end. The cow’s attempt to outrun the storm actually prolongs the intensity.

A buffalo, on the other hand, turns and runs into the storm. They meet it head-on. I don’t know if it is instinct or biology or both, but the buffalo knows if they run into the storm, the time of intensity lessens. The brunt will be quicker and consequently over sooner.

Most often, people are cows. We avoid things that will cause pain. We may procrastinate and push away something that will bring discomfort. It could be a paper that needs to be written for a class. We say we will do it later. We distract ourselves with unproductive time on social media, television and daydreaming. In other words, we avoid the storm.

What happens? The storm catches up to us. And, like the cow, we feel its full force. If we faced it head-on like the buffalo, if we did the hard work now instead of later, we would have saved ourselves a lot of discomfort and stress.

You know as well as I do that it doesn’t go away when we avoid something. Whatever it is, studying for a test, extra drilling, the tough conversation, it still lingers in our minds. We still have the anticipation or worry. The bodily sensations of dread and apprehension increase a little because of our avoidance. The intensity of the storm actually becomes greater. We are prolonging the inevitable. We know that but still choose to run away. At least temporarily.

I write a lot about similar things. I love wrestling. Wrestling is a metaphor like the buffalo. To me, wrestling has become like the buffalo. The sport teaches us to stay the course, embrace challenges and not be afraid of the storm. But, it takes work.

If we genuinely ever want to get out of this sport what we want, we have to be the buffalo. We have to run into the storms. Face whatever brings us fear. Wrestle the best opponents. Do the challenging workouts. Push yourself each day, even when it feels impossible.

Surprisingly, what we learn is that although challenging at times, it is better than running away from it. It is a shorter period of intensity. It may be a loss. Or a few days of discomfort studying when you are tired. The conversation with your boss may have been difficult. But in the end, you did it. You faced the challenge head-on and, most likely, it was better than you imagined. If it was, you felt a sense of pride and peace that you did something most people will not do — run into the storm.

How can you start being the buffalo and face your storms? First, recognize that avoiding anything will only bring more emotional and psychological discomfort. Physically, you may prevent some pain. However, in my experience, the physical pain pales in comparison to the feelings of procrastination, fear and regret.

Second, begin today to “callous” your mind. That means do something difficult for you. We know what callouses are, right? We get callouses on our hands and feet, tough, dense clumps of skin from weight lifting, shoveling, or walking on rough surfaces. If you start weight lifting, it is common for people’s hands to hurt initially from the abrasiveness of a barbell. In time, that goes away. Your hands do not hurt anymore.

Doing hard things initially hurt and will be uncomfortable. Spending five to ten minutes after practice working on your counter-offense when you are tired will not be comfortable. It will be a burden.

Getting in the habit of doing your homework when you get home from school or practice instead of looking at Instagram or closing your eyes may be challenging mentally and physically at the onset.

But again, the more you face things head-on, the quicker you remedy the discomfort. I can’t tell you many times that when I faced a storm, it was worse instead of better. Off the top of my head, I can’t remember one incident where avoidance has actually helped me. I can remember many situations, though, that caused my stress and anxiety levels to rise when I procrastinated or tried to avoid something.

If I tried not to think about my opponent, the worry about losing, waiting until later to lose the last few pounds, avoiding the tough workout because I was tired and/or feeling lazy, in the end, I didn’t feel better. I felt worse. I have learned avoiding anything usually results in the opposite of what I was hoping for and also more significant discomfort.

I have been hammering this into the minds of the kids I coach. About our thinking, fears, insecurities and doubts. The obstacles we put in our own way. Not intentionally but innocently. We think it will help us. But in actuality, we are hurting ourselves by running from difficult, challenging and uncomfortable things.

The buffalo instinctively knows the path to safety and freedom is through discomfort. It seems very counter-intuitive to us to run into the muck. However, it makes little sense because that’s all we’ve known. We have been trained to seek comfort, not realizing that often, on the other side of discomfort, what we’ve been looking for is success and achievement.

(John Klessinger is a teacher and wrestling coach at South River High School in Maryland. You can follow him on Instagram @coachkless and like his Facebook page “Coach Kless”.)