Having studied boxing and the martial arts for many years as both student and teacher, I have come to accept that to fight is to face uncertainty and paradox.
There a reason fighting is compared to chess. It takes real smarts to succeed - street smarts, book smarts, and self-awareness. And both are a lot like life.
When I was an MMA fighter I had to sit my wife down and tell her I would be abstaining from our regular “adult time” activities for the month and half prior to my fight. This did not go over well.