My Focus

Every day we make choices on how to spend our time. It can be productive time or it  can be unproductive time.   Only I can determine which.  We only have so much time on this rock.  

Each of us has to look back, ahead and in the present and determine if we are using our time in a way as to make their life meaningful.  Not everyone is looking to lead a life of meaning but each of us has the ability to.   

I have seen many moons in my years on this rock and fewer moons to see in the future.  But this means that for me, I should focus on using the time I have to become the best I can be. Only I can determine what that that looks like.

That is my focus

  

Exhaustion

This blog comes from a point of exhaustion.  I know alot of people have been hit with the flu and or colds in the last little while.  For myself I have been struggling going on over two weeks now.  I don't think I have had more that a few concurrent hours of sleep in weeks.

I am walking around in a permanent daze.  I only hope that sleep comes back to me so I can get 6 or 7 hours uniterupted.  Of course because of this sickness and lack of sleep I am not getting much training in.  I am still able to read but not many kicks are being done as when ever I try I feel like I am going to fall over.

Next week will be better and I hope the daze is gone and the energy is back.

Two great experiences

I had two great experiences the last little while.  The first was the morning of December 3.  The morning was beautiful blue sky and not alot of wind.  I was in the city and I drove home along the back roads.  The frost was thick on the trees and the sun being low in the sky was reflecting the frost.  We get a few days like this in most winters but sometimes I don't have the time to actually watch and enjoy this sight.  It was great to see this and be there at that time.  Half an our later it had warmed up and there was a light breeze and it was all gone.

This past weekend I was driving north into North East BC.  The sun was above the horizon but not by much.  There was a thin layer of cloud throughout the sky.  With the low light all the trees, fields and river valley's gave a very strange but cool shadow that is hard to describe.  I felt like I had gone back in time 70 years.  I remember seeing picture of this area in black and white and the whole day seemed like a black and white photo.


Those were two great days.

Happy

I was listening to a song this weekend and a line in it struck me as where I have gotten too in my life with my mental state.
Being in the moment, seeing things around you are what makes a person feel happy.

The words in the song were:

Successful men get what they want

Happy men want just what they got.

If you live every day being happy what more do you need.

Kick A Thon for Nicaragua

This past weekend I was privileged to have been able to participate in Onoway Champion TKD Kick-A-Thon to raise funds for building class rooms in Grenada, Nicaragua.

There were 4 teams of 5 kicking for about 4 hours.  We were able to do 52,150 kicks.  It was a great day of fun and sweat.  My calf muscles are a little tight right now but this will help a lot of kids in Central America.

A big shout out to Andrew and Hannah from Silent River Kung Fu who where there as well kicking hard.  Near the end I could barely lift a leg and both Andrew and Hannah were still putting in front thrust kicks that could knock me back if I was holding the bag.

A great way to spend the day.

Back at it

Well its been a hiatus.  I have been travelling and tied up with work.  Looks like it will continue to be busy for the next while.  I was happy to be back in the Kwoon last night after a few weeks away. 

Training is such a great way to get calm and focus on what the immediate task is in front of me.  Leaving the floor with a sweat on is one of lifes great pleasures.  I hope to be able get to most classes in November but next week may be a bit of a challenge.

See you all on the mats

Everyone wants to be a Cowboy until it's time to do Cowboy stuff

I have been reading a number of books on Mastery and on Success.  I grew up in the mountains in the back country and working with horses.  Most people see a rider coming down a trail or a rider out on the plains in a cinema blockbuster and say wow that is what I want to be.

What is not seen is the work that needs to be done so you can ride off into the sunset.  The constant fixing of  fence, trimming feet, putting shoes on the horse, taking shoes off the horse, more trimming, shovelling out the paddocks, cutting hay, picking hay, throwing hay, early mornings gathering horses, fixing tack, fixing vehicles, the list is endless.

This past month I had a few examples of the not so fun stuff of being a cowboy.  This weekend I had to move and restack a bunch of my winter hay as I found a bunch of leaks in the tarping.  It only took about 6 hours but it was tedious  and not how I wanted to spend my 6 hours.  My brother took a few weeks off in September and went to wrangle for a outfitter friend of his up in the mountains.  It was a 2 week trip with 12 dudes and 30 head of horses.  They got snowed in with 70 cm of heavy wet snow and the crew had to work their way out in a very unpleasant atmosphere.

Why am I talking about this?  Well in away it is similar to achieving mastery.  This is in anything, not just Kung Fu.  I hope by now we all have a picture in our head about the kind of Black belt we want to be.  It is the work we need to put into to achieve mastery and it can be tedious and boring, doing the same things over and over.  But without this,  making this part of training as part of the process, we can never achieve mastery or a Black Belt with meaning.  It is the work and constant repetitiveness that allows for us to reach Mastery.  In my reading those that embrace this part of the process become the true masters.  The true masters do the Cowboy stuff.