Win or Lose

I don't like loosing. I wasn't planning to compete in the sparring events but I was not going to let sifu Regier get the gold without a fight... Both matches I started good and then I lost my energy. I get tired too fast and this is something I need to work on. I lost the match but I gained so much. So I actually won?

This year my son Kobe was in the opening Lion Dance. I felt so proud. All my kids participated and while some did better than others in terms of medals, they've all did great and conquered their fears or obtained their goals.

Now that my kids are older I would like to judge in one of the little kids events. I've never done it and I will have to make sure there is another person that can work with me on organizing the event (anyone?).

I feel it was another successful day and I enjoyed being around a group of people who want to better themselves and others. I think this one was a knockout - definitely a WIN for me.

Dragon

Dragon practice last Friday and Saturday was fun. I think we are gaining momentum and we are able to repeat the sequence with different subs. Sifu Lagner is doing fabulous job arranging this and teaching new tricks. 

Past paths

I've talked about trying to choose the right path in the last few months. Looking at the past there are always questions that surface about what if. 

Many decisions in our life are changing the direction we are going. By choosing one path we open possibilities and also close some. Choosing to move to Canada is one of the bigger decisions I had to make. It was not an easy decision and it is not easy now. Not being close to family. Not being able to help my parents. Not letting my kids the interaction with their cousins that they would had if we stayed. 

Now visit my sister and seeing how my kids play and enjoy being with her kids makes all these emotions and doubts come up again. It is not easy but I realize that we can't do everything be everywhere. 

I'm looking around me and I know I need to be happy. I have a great family. I have a home and the means to live well. I'm healthy (mostly...). I know that this is what I need to preserve no matter what path I choose. 

I ran 6 km (3 times in a row)

This run was not an easy run. I wasn't practicing as I should have (the most I ran this summer prior to this race was 6km), it was very cold this weekend, I didn't sleep that great the night before, there were lots of hills in the beginning (the view with the yellow colors was amazing), I was chased by a herd of cows and one bull, my running app was not working so I couldn't know how far I ran, and for the last 8 kilometers I was running in a small elevation gain (very painful).

But I finished 18 kilometers of trail running!!!

What kept me going when my muscles were aching? The mental game was in play. There was no way I would stop. I would have crossed that finish line crawling if I had to. Putting one leg in front of the other. One step at a time. Sometime fast and sometimes slow, but consistently going forward (except for few steps back when the bull started running...). I had to finish the race to prove to myself that I can do it but also (and probably more importantly) to allow the next person in the team to start their leg. Not letting the team down.

(You can clearly see the bull in the photo and I'm the runner on the left...)