Mark Mireles describes 'gameness' as having heart, of rising to the challenge and performing well under pressure. As Mireles writes, "This is a characteristic that warriors cultivate through training." (p. 65) He contrasts this with "room wrestlers," people who do well in training, but don't perform well in the match.
What sets these two groups apart? Heart. The Warrior does not like, or want, to lose, so when they compete, they do so with all their heart. Mireles describes this as an innate trait, and in many ways he is correct. However, I also believe that one can choose to never give up, to "bring it." That is not an easy choice, but it is one available to the Warrior.
Dave Grossman's Sheepdog Tip of the Day for Dec. 12, 2011 (http://www.simple-tech.com/sheepdog/tip.php?name=during%2F65.html), is about Officer Stacy Lim of the LAPD. While off-duty, she was set upon by some gangbangers looking to jack her car. When she ID'd herself as a police officer, she was shot through the heart with a .357 magnum bullet that tore a chunk out of her back as it left her body.
She returned fire, and chased after the shooter, while the reaming gang-bangers decided this Warrior was too much for them and ran off. The shooter died of his wounds, and Officer Lim died twice on the operating table. However, she came through, and returned to duty eight months later. She is indeed a gamer!
As LTC Grossman so aptly wrote, "Lim had a competitive attitude that refused to lose, and she had a plan, a visualized determination to win."
That is a virtue worth having, whether you are a Warrior, a Sheepdog, or a Master Teacher.
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