Turn your maze to a-maz-ing

 We sometimes put obstacles in our way. Why? Because we think this is the “right way”. Sometimes going through the obstacles or finding ways to ignore them will get us to the end result faster. 

Recondition

 I have a need for recondition. I think this is originated from my childhood where I always felt I’m not good enough. I craved the “you are doing good” comment. 

Luckily it pushed me to get better in anything I do. But the feeling of not being good enough is still there. The need for recognition is still there. 

Trees

Today we planted trees. As a group we planted more than 1,000 trees!!!

It was tiring but very rewarding. Being outside with family and some KF friends. Helping nature (especially with all the recent fires).

These acts are important aspect of my Kung Fu. I just wish more people would have participated.

Rain

 The lack of rainfall this season led to lots of forest fires. Affecting many people. 

With al this dry weather, I had to water my garden more than I did in the last 10 years combined. 

Sometimes when the situation changes and it is not in your control, all you can do is try to help and wait. 

Sometimes it is the same with students. After being active  for years, they all of a sudden gone or practicing less. You have to keep watering and hopefully they will resume their practice. 

Long days

 I like it when the days are long. It give me the feeling there is lots of time for everything. But I tend to get less sleep which is not good. 

Everything should be more balanced. 

Sometimes you need a Simon

 Sometimes you need a Simon to keep you accountable.

You going after a goal, you set your plan, you start with high motivation and then you stop. You lose motivation. And then your success coach or your partner/friend/etc. is going to poke you and get you going again. 

The happy fighter

 If you ask people how they remember me, many of them will say grumpy or angry. 

As a kid I was grumpy. Now I look angry. Why? I’m not really angry or unhappy all the time. I’m just very neutral in my facial expression. I’m not smiling. 

I know that when I force smile I feel better. I’m aware of the benefits of smiling. I’m going to practice smiling more. Until it becomes a habit. 

Am I mean?

 I think that by nature I am a nice person. I don’t like hurting others. But when needed, would I be able to hurt a person? Not just talking about punching harder, but actually hurting them in order to stop them from hurting me   

I don't like making mistakes

When I was a kid, I used to specific words in a funny way. Changing letters. Or missing letters. For example - I would say hopsital instead of hospital.

I was laughed at.

So because I did not want to make any mistakes, I kept my mouth shut. As a kid and into my young adult life- I avoided conversations, especially if it was with more than one or two people. To this day, I have a fear of saying the wrong thing, doing the wrong thing. 

But about 10 years ago, I was given a book to read. The book was called "failing forward". 

I can't say it completely changed me. I am still shying away from the spot light and will hang on to what I feel comfortable with. But I am embracing the change and the challenges with new experiences. And that opened a whole new world for me. At work and at Kung Fu.

Weekend Time

It is hard to get sufficient rest from work when there are weekend activities. Tiger Challenge, Farmers Day parade, etc. and then yard work. House work. By the time the weekend ends, I need another day to recover. 

I’m a Dragon

 Today’s parade was awesome. It is so much fun to see the joy of people. Kids, adults, seniors. It is also as lot of fun to spend time with my Kung Fu friends. and I got all my steps for the week 🤣

I’m human

 It is not easy to keep things as planned but as you keep thinking about the end result, it is easier. 

I hope tomorrow will be better. 

I am a machine

When it comes to training I am a machine. And like any machine, it sometimes need a reset. 

So here it is - my reset.

I've been training for many years. One of the best aspects of my training was the early morning Kung Fu classes. And when I say early, I mean it. The classes were on Tuesday and Thursday starting at 6:40 in the morning. Every Tuesday and Thursday I would go an practice Kung Fu in the mornings and once I had access to the Kwoon keys, I started going at 6am to get some practice before class started.

When COVID started, I continued to go in the mornings to the Kwoon even though there were no more classes. But once I got my house organized for COVID and exercises, I started doing the routine at home. Obviously it was not the same thing. There is something for me about being at the kwoon. I do not get the same from my Kung Fu training elsewhere. 

With the return to work (but not to early Kung Fu classes), I started going to the gym on some days which was great, but I also started missing waking up early on days I work from home. It started to become a habit. A bad habit. If I work from home I "sleep in" and wake up at 7 instead of 5. These couple hours of missing training are crucial for me and I am struggling to get back to it.

But now is reset time. When I go to work - I go to the gym. When I work from home - I practice at home. There I committed to do it as I used to in the past.