Eating and activity balance

With my reduced activity in recent weeks I can really feel the changes in my body. I have less energy and I get tired faster during physical activity. But part of getting my back back to order requires me to focus on stretches and mobility.

I love eating. Sweet, salty, sour, did I mention sweet already? Whenever I eat something I know I will regret later, I'm telling myself "I will run it off". But lately it is not happening because I do not run as much. Breaking the eating habit is hard and I'm struggling with temptations and habits. If there is a free doughnut in the office - I must get it. If there is a Tim Hortons on the way home (and for some weird reason, there is one everyday) - I have to get something.

So now I'm 42 (I know most of you were thinking about my age...). My waist size is 42 and I want it down to 39.

I know I have lots of work in front of me. I need to get back into my workout routine without hurting my back. I need to learn new habits and to curve temptations. I think that the first step is for me to acknowledge that I'm not happy with where I am. Now I'm supposed to deliver.

Perfection

While on route last week we past numerous canola fields. They look so great and picture perfect. I love looking at them and love to take photos of them as well.

But if you look closely, you can see that the canola field is not perfect. The plants are in different heights. Some flowers are dead, broken or not flowering yet. Looking at the filed as a whole makes it look great. If you pay attention to the small details you will find it is not.

On route to mastery, perfecting a form takes time (probably indefinitely) and lots of effort. However when we perform our forms after 1000 repetitions it should look perfect. Yes you can still see the imperfections if you look closely but as a whole it is PERFECT.

We cannot be too hard on ourselves because we are not perfect but at the same time we should always strive to be perfect.


“Have no fear of perfection - you'll never reach it.” 
Salvador Dali

Dragon 2

Last week I blogged about the dragon and look at that - 4 public dragon dances on Canada Day. Yes, we did not have any fancy tricks or moves but we were running around with some people who had zero experience and we all had fun.

I think everyone who participated enjoyed it and I'm sure we will continue to have fun in the future running around with the dragon. If you did not have a chance to be part of the dragon dance - don't worry we will have more opportunities.

42

I'm 42. I was not 42 all the time... it happened only in the last few month . :-)

I'm not sure what is the right number for me but right now I think it should be 39. So 3 to go. This is the new goal. 40 by the end of July. 39 by the end of the summer and then stick to it. Wish me luck.

Dragon (and Lion) Dance

I was watching the video of the Dragon/Lion Dance we did for the last banquet and while watching I was thinking and noticing few things. First it was wicked long - 17 minutes. It a combination of a lion dance then a dragon dance and then ending with a lion dance but as a whole it was a very long performance. A very good one.

Secondly it reminded me how much fun it was practicing, although a bit nerve racking as the head trying to remember the sequence every time we changed it. It was a great bonding experience and a lot of fun.

Thirdly I remembered that there were few tricks that we excluded from the demo (maybe this year?) and few that we came up with just by chance - that was fun too.

We are now almost half way through the year and I think it is time to bring the dragon out and start playing around.

Begin with the end in mind

I’ve been thinking about this statement in the last week and how it affects me. The idea behind this statement is to know where you are going, know what your goal is, and know what you are targeting.

Without knowing what your goal is you might be going around in circles and loosing precious time. However staying put until you finalize your goal and waiting with no movement is not good either.

Once we know what our goals are it is easier to stay course and set the direction for yourself but even before you are settled on what you want, you should be working on something. Most likely it will also help you redefine your goals.

What we can do

Few things happening this weekend are proving to me that we can be what we want to be if we work on it and if we put our minds into it.

First was the circus. Seeing what these daredevils can do and knowing how much training they have been putting perfecting their performance. This was really impressive.

I also did my first "behind the back" with my slashing staff. Got over my fears of smacking my head. Yay!!!

All of this takes time and more time for practicing.

I wish I could do what I want all the time... but this summarize our reality (Stressed Out lyrics):
"We used to play pretend, give each other different names,
We would build a rocket ship and then we'd fly it far away,
Used to dream of outer space but now they're laughing at our face,
Saying, "Wake up, you need to make money."

At least I can spend some of my time doing the things I like... Need to make sure it is focused time. Getting the most out of it.