Mike Tyson has gone through plenty of ups and downs in life and his experiences are giving him the courage to prepare for the inevitable.
Despite his illustrious boxing career, winning a world title at the age 20 and the first heavyweight boxer to capture three belts simultaneously, life was never a bed of roses for the ‘baddest man on the planet.’
He was arrested in 1991 for the rape of an 18-year old girl and spent three years in prison. After coming out of jail, he suffered bankruptcy due to addiction.
For ‘Iron Mike,’ there are no more stories to tell about his life ‘unless a miracle happens.’
“I don’t think so. Unless something miraculous happens. But you never know,” he said during an astonishing interview with The Sportsman last month.
“The more we learn about ourselves, the more we learn about life. Life is pretty interesting. We’re born not knowing, we die not knowing where we came from. But our life prepares us for our death.”
“We still don’t know sh*t about it, but when we get to a certain age, we’re not scared of dying no more, like it was when we were young.”
Willing To Die
The boxing legend admitted that his life was at risk during his days in the ring but the sport taught him of the survival method that made him the great boxer that he was.
“I knew there was a possibility that I could die during training, during a fight. I knew that. But I wasn’t scared, because I thought if anybody was going to die, I would do the killing,” he said.
“That self-confidence was a survival mechanism. But now, from my experience, from what I believe, the more I know about not existing, the more willing I am to die.”
Now at 53, Tyson no longer fears death as he realized it is easier to die than to live.
“I don’t fear it. Living might be more complicated than dying to me. The belief of it,’ he continued.
“I don’t know if it’s true. Because living takes a lot of courage. Without the courage, you can’t handle living. Living is a journey; living is a struggle.”
“People have everything and they still can’t do it, they struggle. We take ourselves too seriously. We think we’re somebody. Who the fu*k? We’re nothing! We come from sh*t; we think we’re special! Fame is sh*t.”
Not Discouraged
Looking back on his past experiences, Tyson found out he is no special but he also knew that life doesn’t end when bad things happen.
“You find out you’re not. You’re capable of going to jail, you’re capable of dying, you’re capable of being mistreated.”
“I don’t really expect bad things to happen to me, but when they do happen to me, I understand it and am able to handle it.”
“I’ve handled bad stuff before, that’s been my life. So I don’t trip over bad things. I know shit happens. I won’t be discouraged.”
Sharing one of his biggest takeaways from boxing, ‘Iron Mike’ said: “There’s a lot of teaching. It’s only by teaching that you start to learn.”
“You can’t learn only by listening, you learn by teaching. Even though you know nothing. And the more you teach, the more you know you know nothing. You’re not wasting time when you’re teaching.”
(Featured Image Source: Instagram/ Mike Tyson)