Life Lessons from the WWE

We get side-eyed (a lot) when we tell people that we let the boys watch the WWE. And, in a sense, I get it. Boys are so prone to physicality and violence – maybe it doesn’t make sense to allow them to watch something that perpetuates these things. But on the other hand, a part of me is just glad there are no guns and blood involved.

The most interesting, not to mention unexpected, thing the boys have learned from the WWE is the concept of death.

As people who are firmly in the spiritual-not-religious camp, death isn’t easy to explain. I mean, it’s a tough thing for most adults to wrap their brains around, it’s got to be tons more difficult when you’re living in the black and white world of the under 10 set.

But here’s the thing. The boys watch decades old pay-per-views on the WWE Network and some of those people are no longer living – guys like Andre the Giant and Macho Man Randy Savage. On the TV screen they are larger than life and the boys want to know if they can see them perform live someday. And then we have to explain why that’s not possible.

It’s so much easier, though, than explaining that Luke looks like an uncle that passed away before he was born or telling them about the great grandfather they will never meet. We’ve tried explaining these things to them but it’s not something they ever seemed to grasp before now.

Now they pretty much get that it’s a fact of life. They know we can be sad when someone is no longer living, miss them, talk about them, CELEBRATE THEM. But they also seem to know it means we won’t ever get to interact with them but that their spirit and their memory is very much alive. Pretty awesome.

When the Ultimate Warrior passed away last week, just a few days after being inducted to the WWE Hall of Fame, I think it brought the lesson home for the boys. A person can be right there in front of us – living and breathing and shaking the ropes of the ring at Wrestlemania XXX – and then they can be gone.

I hope the boys learn from this that life is short and very precious. I hope that knowledge colors their actions for years to come, not with fear but with respect and love. I want them to always remember to say I love you and to be kind, especially to one another. And finally, I want them to do whatever it is they dream of doing because life can be way too short.

And if the WWE can help me teach my boys all of that, they can keep right on watching it as far as I’m concerned.

This is a non-sponsored post. The WWE really is just a big deal in my house.