My office surroundings have changed significantly in the past several months. Gone are the sweaty mats and tattered gloves. Missing are the bloody rags and disheveled training partners. Absent is the smell of bleach and day after itch of dried skin.
I will fight again someday, sure, but for now I have taken on a bigger fight. Our beloved country is and has been under attack from social capitalists for several generations. Little by little they have chipped away at free enterprise until it is barely recognizable.
Intrusive regulations, mandates, licenses and taxes make it nearly impossible to operate a business freely. Innovation and constructive spirit have diminished greatly under the weight of an overreaching, idealistic and elitist government mentality.
I am a field lobbyist for the National Federation of Independent Business. NFIB, a non-profit small business organization with over 400,000 members, has been operating for nearly 70 years. We, a vast group of small business owners, battle at the state and federal level against legislation that is intrusive to business owners and their freedom to enterprise.
I cover a twelve county area in northwest Missouri. Spending my childhood in Maryville means that I am back in my old stomping grounds. My grandfather was the family practice doctor in Maryville for nearly 40 years. With his wife, Johnie, they served their community in many ways.
I spend my days calling on small business owners and farmers. We talk about pending legislation and costly mandates. I spend time in warehouses, on sales floors, in factories, on tractors and in my Ford F-150.
That’s right: I finally traded in my ole ’93 Chevy. After the government bought out GM, I figured I would drive a Ford instead of Obama Motors. I do miss that ole Chevy though. She carried me down to Oklahoma four times for some serious ass whoopins. Those were the days. I still listen to country music and occasionally conservative talk radio.
It may seem like a drastic switch from professional MMA, but I have been passionate about policy my entire life. My grandparents were always involved and I was eager to listen and discuss the issues. It’s just a different kind of fighting. Now I thump strangers with philosophy.
I remember my grandmother telling me over Thanksgiving, “You’ve been living in a socialist country your entire life. They just never told you.” She was right of course. The overreach of the federal government dates back to the early 1900’s. They call it progress, but it is based in a lack of faith.
I gave my grandmother’s eulogy last Saturday morning. She was an accomplished woman on many levels, but she was most of all a woman of discipline and faith. Her work touched so many lives without being regulated or mandated to do so.
That selfless contribution is what has been lost in our communities. We are so quick to pass a law instead of pick up a shovel. Johnie Imes picked cotton during the great depression. She died at the age of 88: a Registered Nurse, Head of the Accounting Department at Northwest Missouri State University, an accomplished golfer, a Bridge Life Master, mother of two and wife of 56 years.
The University of Missouri Women’s Golf Team holds an invitational tournament every year. It is deservedly called: The Johnie Imes Invitational.
I plan to work my way back to the cage one day and entertain my neighbors. But for now I have some passionate work to perform. I am reminded every day of the reality in people. Some are fighters and some are not. It takes all kinds to make this world go round, but it takes freedom to elevate everybody on it.
I hope you find fulfillment in whatever you do brother! Thanks for sharing, always.