Thank You

I was very happy to be at the kwoon today, hanging out with my kung fu friend, practicing, visiting, it was awesome! I didn't get to participate to the degree that I wanted to because of my shoulders. This week my shoulders went from bad to worse and I'm not truly sure what exactly I did except not let them rest enough. By Thurs, I was in constant pain and discomfort, both of my arms were going to sleep throughout the day as well as at night (waking me up which was not fun!). I decided to go and visit my  chiropractor who I haven't seen in a while.
Side Bar - I haven't gone because I usually like to rest after an adjustment to let the bones settle and the muscles relax. I was not willing to take the time to do that as I was afraid that I would get too far behind on my forms. The jokes on me because I have done fewer and fewer forms as the last few weeks have progressed because of the discomfort.
Back to the story..... I went to the chiropractor on Friday morning and she did a lot of work on my muscles as well as my bones. I feel great! For the first time in a long time, I didn't get woken up by the discomfort in my arms on Friday night. Woot Woot!!! Today while I was at the kwoon, I experienced some discomfort, sort of like a warning sign, while doing Tai Chi. I figured at that time that I should probably take it easy for the next day or two if I want my adjustment to hold. And attending the fitness class that was going to focus on upper body, complete with kettle bells, was probably not in the best interest of healthy shoulders. Or shoulders that would make it through the next week of doing forms, playing my guitar and working on my knitting projects, and of course, all the other stuff (groceries, carrying my stuff - kung fu and work). I helped my partner with with some Tai Chi moves, kicked the bag 200 times, finished my sit ups and completely loved being around all of the amazing people that hang out there on Saturdays. Thank you all for making my day:)

Miss you guys!

Totally missed everyone tonight but am making some serious forward motions to change my career path:)

Low Energy

I had a very low energy day! I think it may be because I skipped my rest day. Sort of by accident! Sometimes I forget or lose track of the day of the week during my work week, a common shift worker dilemma. I worked day shift on Sunday and automatically did my workout when I got up, so today I'm dragging my butt. I have to work tomorrow evening so I will miss my favorite classes of the week

Theme of the Week?

I experienced more disrespectful folks today, yes, they were young (teens actually). It seems that they believe that it is okay to be mean to someone, perhaps shun them from a group, because they are different. How does that work exactly? Can someone say... I believe in this (insert belief) then it is okay for me to treat you with disrespect because you are that (insert individuality)? I thought that if you believe in something and that belief dictates that you be nice to everyone, it means everyone, not just the ones that you chose to be nice to, right? Am I way out to lunch here? Is there actually teaching that support only being nice to the chosen ones?
I dream of a perfect world, one where we all accept each other, celebrate our differences and treat everyone equally. My plan.... treat everyone with the degree of respect that I would like to be treated regardless of how they treat me. I believe that I can change the world, one person at a time. I know  that this is the root of our Acts of Kindness project and I am not just plugging the program. It really does work! If you start out each day with the plan of treating everyone (even the grumpy ones) with pleasantness and respect, imagine how much better our world would be, or how much better you would feel after being nice all day? It really does work, it can make tough times easier to handle. :)

What would you do?

I had an experience today on my way home from class. I turned into my alley and there was a male teenager walking in the middle of the lane. I waited patiently for him to hear my vehicle and move over, he didn't. I tapped my horn in case he didn't know that I was there, he responded my holding up a finger that may have meant that I was #1 in his opinion. I continued to follow him down the lane, he continued to express his opinion. When the lane split and we went our separate ways, I wished him well and went on with my day. Clearly this young man was quite anger and looking for a fight wherever he could find it, my choice was not to give him one. I have never been in enough of a hurry to begrudge someone the two minutes it takes to walk down my lane. Yeah, he was disrespectful, but he probably already knew that and didn't need me pointing it out. I could have been outraged, possibly angered by his behavior, but I figured that it would be a waste of energy and emotion over something that I had no control over. So that's what happened, what would you do?

Moving Forward

Today was all about accomplishing small tasks to complete a bigger task. I think that I did okay! It is our fiscal year end, that means handing in receipts, filling out reports, and writing staff evaluations. I feel like I have so much work today, I can't pause for a second or I may just pause and never start again. This morning, I took a deep breath and decided that instead of wallowing in the millions of things to do, I would take one step at a time, stay in the moment and keep moving forward. It worked, I didn't finish a lot but I feel like a put a good dent in some of my evaluations, put in a holiday request (have to be booked before year end), planned some workshops to attend and to facilitate and of course the every dayness like supervising my team and the teens.
I stayed in the mode when I got home, made a nice dinner and cleaned up before my guitar lesson at 6:30. I definitely have a feeling of accomplishment today although I didn't really finish anything, but I moved forward a lot and that feels great :)

Now it's Sunday:)

I was really tempted to lay in bed this morning and skip my morning workout! It's true!!! I mentally pried myself out of bed and I am really glad as always that I did. My legs are getting stronger and my kicks are higher, I'm starting to feel like I might just be getting somewhere. I think that it really helps that I am stretching everyday after I finish, I don't have to spend the first half of my kicks getting warmed up and ready. My legs feel fresher when I start, than they did when I wasn't stretching as often.
I am doing sets of 50 with my sit ups which feels cool and I can feel my muscles working. I am also starting to feel the strength in my arms even though I am using 5lbs weights every other day. I am still having intermittent discomfort in my shoulders and arms, so even though my brain wants to increase the weight this week, I think that I will listen to my body and wait (maybe another week?)

Saturday!

It sort of feels like Sunday today, no real reason. Perhaps that my work kids were really late to get up this morning and most of them didn't want to do much today. Lot's of movie watching, reading, music practice; a definite slower day. So I began to start thinking about my blog with the thought that I was a day or two behind. Guess what? It's not Sunday! This also means that I made it through a whole Saturday without moping around and wishing that I was at the kwoon instead of work (the only time I miss a Saturday is for work). I would love to spend some time at the kwoon doing my forms and hopefully I will do that tomorrow or Monday after work.

Habit forming

I don't really feel like I need to write another blog today, I just need to re-establish my routine. Have a great night everyone:)

This blogging thing

I decided that I would write a blog every day in order to challenge myself. I considered some of the  challenges that I would face but of course not all of them. I set a routine for myself so that I would be able to remember everything. At the end of each day, I sit down and record all that I have accomplished and then write my blog. Sounds simply enough, who can't do that? I have been doing it nearly every day for the last couple of months, there was some faltering at the beginning but I expected that. What I didn't expect was that as I get more into my routine, I add more things to do each day, push myself a little harder that I would actually forget...Some of you that know me better than I do probably could have predicted this and in retrospect, I could have to. Now I just have to make some adjustments.
I was really missing my Sunday morning blog... reflecting on my week, sharing the ups and downs, I really liked it. I decided that I would break my routine of blogging at the end of each day on Sundays and write in the morning like I used to. It didn't work, it threw me off for a couple of days, I had to work really hard to get back into the routine of evening blogging.  I also thought that I would blog in the morning on short change, that failed for a different reason. If I blog one day in the morning and the next in the evening, throw in 16 hours of work, approx. 5 hours of sleep, I feel like I haven't been engaged in my kung fu for days. So evening blogging it is, I just have to make it so high of a priority that I won't miss it. It may take a couple of days to get back into the swing of things but that is my latest plan.
It's sort of funny that when you make a goal to challenge yourself, it doesn't feel like it will be hard, just challenging. Maybe I need to recognize that sometimes, challenging is hard! It doesn't make it undo-able, just hard!

Improvements

I worked on my Tai Chi Broad Sword form for thirty minutes today, it feels pretty good. It is not quite ready to show others but I feel like I am moving forward and that is a good thing. I only had 30 minutes and should have done my hand form as well but I really wanted to make sure I have the sequence for the sword form into repeat mode. Tomorrow will be a good day for my hand form. :)
I increased the number of reps I am doing with my weights, same weight for this week, I hope to increase the weight next week. I am starting to feel stronger with some discomfort in my shoulders, but not a lot of serious pain. I think that I am on the track for improving my shoulder strength.

Reps

Everyone is different.....
Some of us need to do something 100 times in order for it to sink in, others may only need to do 50. I realized this week that although I have learned my form and can repeat it, I can't repeat it consistently yet and especially when under stress. I think that I need to do more reps than I have been doing (averaging 3 per day) in order to get more comfortable doing it in front of others. My plan is to increase the number of times that I practice without my weapon, so that the moves come more easily and then I can start to work on purpose. I also will try to work on it around my team mates more so that I can ask for feedback and just plain old get more comfortable showing something that is clearly a work in progress.
Although my goal is to complete 1000 reps of my form this year, I think that it will take many more than that for me to feel confident and for me to repeat it consistently.

Making it work!

My kung fu day started very early, 4:45 am, with some kicks, push ups (10 beauties) and some sit ups, a few weights (to strengthen my arms and shoulders) and a little Tai Chi. Even though I woke up with a headache, I continued on and completed my routine. I am totally loving this routine! I worked from 7 to 3:15 today so there was no possibility to attend classes or open training, just work. I really love my job, I have been lucky enough to figure out what I love to do and been blessed to have found a place to do it for nearly 21 years. The only thing I don't really like and never have really is the shift work. I used to really fight it and try to create the type of routine that people who work Mon. to Fri. have, it didn't work. I work evenings, weekends, six days in a row each week, not possible to be like what I thought was normal. When I wanted to grade for my black belt I knew that routine was going to be the key to my success but at first, I wasn't sure how to get there. I discovered that each shift that I worked needed to have it's own routine. For example, evening shift doesn't start until 2:45, so there is room for working out in the morning and other stuff that I take care of if I stay on schedule. I accomplished that by getting up at the same time every day and creating a routine. I have changed my day shift routine this year so that I have some time for me, it needs to happen before I do anything else, this occurs at 4:45 am, but I really like it. I get up 15 minutes earlier, have more energy and don't spend my day wondering how I am going to fit it all in. When I am on days off, I really like to spend part of my day relaxing with some reading (usually blogs) and a nice cup of tea. I have discovered that if I complete my morning workout first then I have a much more relaxing time.
When I started writing this today, I was going to whine about how much I missed being at the kwoon today and how disengaged I was feeling. As I was writing, I realized that I am in a good place, I have created some good habits with my routine and I am more engaged in my training because of it.

Good class day

What an interesting day today was! At kung fu tonight I was able to spend time with a few different people and it was kinda cool. Black belt class was cool, I may have engaged my hips in a way that I haven't been able to before,awesomeness! Sihing class brought a different partner and more work on getting close, I liked that! I worked on my broad sword with my teammates and learned a thing two, which was cool. I did my first demonstration of my tai chi broad sword form and lost my nerve half way through and bailed. I thought that I was beginning to feel comfortable with the form but obviously not comfortable enough. I need to do more reps and I am not sure how to fit that in but I will. I loved sparring class, we did continual sparring for the whole time and it was fantastic! I am more than ready for bed as I have been up since 4:45 and will get up at the same time tomorrow.

Don' t Feel Like It!

As I was getting out of bed this morning, I began to make excuses about why I wasn't going to start my day with my workout. By the time that I got to the end of the hall, I had several lined up. "I'll do it later" was at the top of the list. By the time I let the dogs out, I remembered that there would be no later as I had to go to workshop and then work my afternoon shift. Then I reminded myself that not feeling like it was the number one reason why I should do it. So I had a great workout, increased my reps on my hand weights and consequently set myself up to have a great day.

16 candles!

Sweet 16!!!!
Katie turned 16 today, she seems so grown up and so young all at the same time. It also feels a little weird to be the parent of a sixteen year old girl, it seems like only yesterday that we embarked on this journey. It is just like the road to mastery, each step was mindful, not always sure that it was the right step but it was made with much thought and care and we take consistent action.
I don't have any idea what the future brings to my little family, but I do know that we will continue to love each other and make steps and decisions mindful of each other's best interests. The success that we experience as a family is all because we are working towards mastery together, not accepting mediocrity from each other or ourselves. Of course, we are not done by any means but it seems an appropriate time to reflect on how we have gotten where we are.

Stretches

I have been thinking that I need to do more stretches, especially in the morning when everything is stiff and sore. Today when I read Sihing Krebb's blog, I was reminded that I need to do more stretches. So today after I finished my kicks, I spent some time on the floor doing my muscles a bit of a favor by stretching them out. I can't believe how much better I feel after just one day, I will continue to try to keep them stretched and happy.

Here is the Sun!

Today was a good rest day! I spent some time with a young friend having a nice cup of tea and a good chat. I saw another friend for a bit to touch base and had a beautiful dinner with my family. My head is starting to sort it self out which is good because it definitely has an affect on my energy level and motivation. I think that a turning point was getting to have some time outside today, I definitely thrive in the sunshine. I found myself day dreaming about doing my forms in the park, I can't wait until all that white stuff is gone.

Change

How does one let go and embrace change all at the same time? I'm not really sure, I have been thinking about it for about two weeks and I'm still not really sure. If it is a change that I think that I need to  make and go about making it, it is okay. If it is a change put on me, I struggle to accept it. It takes some time to sort through all the bits and pieces, how am I going to do this part now? and what about that part? and what is this going to look like? I am not at the accepting part yet but I am working towards it with optimism and hope that I do this better this time than the others and don't make too many blunders along the way. =)

Technology

Now that I have slept, I remember what I wanted to write!
I was talking to the Beginner Black Dragons about the charities that we support by raising money and I had this cool idea to show them the pictures that I have on my iPad and tell them a little about them. It was a great idea in theory but letting technology into my world was my first mistake. I opened up the file and when I went to make  the pictures bigger so they could all see, they disappeared and I couldn't get the file to open again. It turns out I was in edit mode and therefore limited in what I could do, how did I get there? I don't know! Now, I know the best way to get better at something is to practice but I get so frustrated when I can't figure things out that I don't want to even try. Sometimes when I ask someone who is familiar with these things, I end up feeling stupid and inept!!! Sigh....
Here's the plan, pretend it is just like a form, I don't have any trouble asking for help with a move I can't get, so I will ask for help (completely removing my ego from the mix) and practice more to become familiar with the moves. I know I will never be a programmer but it would be nice to know where to look if things don't go right

Need Sleep

I totally can't remember what I was going to write about tonight! I have had a very long day and I am ready for bed. I am so glad that I have created the habit of getting my stuff done first thing.

BAM

I think that learning to play the guitar is like learning a new form. Once you have all the moves, you practice and practice and practice until you feel like you are doing the same thing without change and then BAM, it all comes together and makes sense. You discover flow, sense of purpose and it feels amazing. I was using this analogy to describe my guitar practice, as I have been practicing hard and not noticing any change. Today, BAM, it all made sense. It was easier to move from one chord to the next, the chords sounded better and it is beginning to sound like I'm making music. It was a great lesson day!

Who inspires who?

Today I was surrounded by young people that are excited about kung fu, willing to work hard to get better and love to have fun while doing it. Sometimes it may seem like we are being a bit silly, but then when it comes to trying really hard to figure out that pesky open x, they give me their undivided attention and do their very best. There are also quite a few young people in the Black Dragon class that have recently decided to take their training more seriously and are practicing more and really showing some great improvements. I love working with all of these young people, especially when they respond so positively. They inspire me to work harder and be a better role model for them, so I go to the kwoon early and practice my kicks and my techniques so that I can have good form when I show them.

May I help you?

Today was a good day! A productive day! A positive day! I started my day earlier than usual, got my sit ups and kicks and 10 beautiful push ups done at the crack of dawn and things just went great from there. I started chatting with a lovely senior lady on the way from my vehicle to the store today and she just grabbed my arm to help her walk and we walked into the store together. Too cool that it was the most natural thing in the world for both of us to do!!! I am turning into the person that I want to be, the one that helps everyone, the one that everyone turns for help, what a great feeling.
Totally stoked about the push ups, I am starting to believe that I can over come this obstacle =)

1000

Today was not without it's challenges! I knew from the start that it would be a real test of my ability to stay on task. I got up a bit earlier than usual and started my day with 150 sit ups and kicks. I went to the Kwoon a bit earlier than usual and did 150 more of each and a few form reps ( I learned so many more moves last night in class that I had to do reps right away for fear of forgetting ). I took advantage of the time between the kid's class and Tai Chi to do some more kicks and sit ups and 3 more reps of my form. And so my day went, every moment that was available, I was on task and taking care of business. I know that this needs to be the blue print for my entire I Ho Chuan year but I also know me and I definitely need to schedule time for hanging out with my family and relaxing with a good book. I hope that I can carry this lesson into the coming months.