Which direction am I looking at?

I've been sick coming in to this holidays season and it put a dent in my preparations to many things. I had to take some sick hours from work which put me behind in some projects. It prevented me from doing planks, putting me behind in my challenge. It stopped me from training my forms. It stopped me from enjoying the time at home.

Strike that.

Despite being sick, I've been making good progress with my projects at work. I'll need to push a bit more for my plank challenge but I can do it. I will continue to practice my forms. I had fun with my family and friends this weekend.

I will continue to enjoy the week. Catch-up with work and with my planks. I will have fun with family and friends for the rest of the week.

I will continue to enjoy the week. Catch-up with work and with my planks. I will have fun with family and friends for the rest of the week.

I will continue to enjoy the week. Catch-up with work and with my planks. I will have fun with family and friends for the rest of the week.

I will continue to enjoy the week. Catch-up with work and with my planks. I will have fun with family and friends for the rest of the week.

I will continue to enjoy the week. Catch-up with work and with my planks. I will have fun with family and friends for the rest of the week.

Time for myself

Work has been extremely busy in the last couple months and it is going to continue like that for the foreseen future. I'm grateful for my work and to the fact we are busy. It is not something I take for granted. But it is causing me to be more stressed and short on time. We are also going to change gears in preparations to the banquet and it is sneaking on us pretty fast. Usually we have about 2 months after the break. But this year it will be less than a month! So much to do.
Whatever happens, at work and at the kwoon, I know I'm going to give it all I've got. Time for myself? Maybe in few months...

Focus

I've been trying many things and so far, although there is improvement with how my back feels, it is not where I want it to be. In the last few days I've been suffering from back pain again. With that I also had shoulder pain since the Tiger Challenge (obstacle course?) and I've been reducing the amount of forms repetitions to avoid injuries.

I had been thinking lots recently about where I want to be as a martial artist in the future and how these limitations are affecting me. As in many things in life, I'm struggling with maintaining what I have and learning new stuff. Finding the time for all of this is hard. I'm coming to the realization that I need to focus on specific things. I tried this at work lately and I'm having some success with being able to stay focused and completing the most important tasks.

Now the hard part is going to be deciding what is the most important tasks/goals/directions I want to take...

Noa

Today we ad Noa's birthday party with her class. Noa decided, like last year, to donate her gifts to a charity. This year Noa chose the Parkland Food Bank. I can't imagine how hard it is for a kid to forgo their presents but more and more kids are doing that and are trying to help others. We collected 2 big boxes of food and over $200 in cash and supermarkets gift cards. 

I think that what we teach our kids is priceless as they will grow and be a positive influence on our society in the future.

Very proud of my Noa!

Dragon Dance

There is no doubt that the Dragon is a great way to bring a group of people to work together, set goals  and get result. The dance last Saturday is a testament for that. We worked hard and we all contributed to a dance that we were able to execute on the Festival of Trees event. From inside the dragon, the dance seems to have gone smoothly. I really want to see the video of the dance.

There are always challenges with numbers when it comes to the dragon. If there are less than 9 - then you can't even practice. If you have exactly 9  dancers, you are risking not being able to perform or train if someone is sick or can't show up. If you have more than 9, practice is easier as there are always enough dancers but how do you pick who is going to be dancing at the performance? Seniority? Skills? Attendance?

I'm not sure what the answer is. I just hope that everyone knows that a big part of what we gain of the dragon dance is within the practices. When it will be time to figure out who is going to be in the dance for Chinese New Year (the day of?) it is still a group effort of everyone who ever practiced with the dragon this year.

it doesn't matter

So after posting the video last week I've been thinking about it and why I don't really like the video and the message in it. If you haven't seen the video, it is about a group of people that hate other (for example a British guy who claims he is 100 British and he hates the Germans). After participating in DNA test, he realize that he has some German genes in him.

The message is we should not hate others because we also have part of their DNA. This is great but I was thinking - and what if I don't have part of someones DNA? Does that allow me to hate them? We should not hate others just because they are "other".

My dad was a Holocaust survivor and he told me that he even with everything he went through, he did no hate Germans. He resented and hated the individuals who did the atrocities but not Germans just because they are Germans.

We should always accept others and also demand that others accept us. Gender, Religion, Origin, Skin Color, Height, Size, it doesn't matter.

Finally

An important part of the I Ho Chuan is tracking your numbers. How many push-ups, how many acts of kindness, how many repetitions you have done. If you do not track your numbers, how can you tell if your are on track to reach your goal?

Being a techie, I've been looking for an app that will allow me to easily track my numbers. I've looked at a number of apps and most of them were too cluttered, too hard to use, too busy, not user friendly. 4 years ago I gave up on the apps and created my own spreadsheet that allowed me to know where I'm at.

After talking to Mr. Beeler who joined the Rooster (2017) team, he went to explore the apps world. After looking at more than 50, he found one that seems to be working well, user friendly, easy to set up. I've tried this app for few days now and I have to say it is working great. There is a cost but it is small (~4$). I love using it and it motivates me and keeping on track.

If you are interested - it is called Persistence. I can also show you how it works...

Thanks Mr. Beeler!!!