Happy New Year!

Every day is a day to begin anew.

I had a conversation with one of my kids the other day (week?) about resolutions. At the start of January each year, there is a lot of talk about New Years resolutions. And we all know, that for most people, their resolutions are just dreams by March as they fell off the wagon so to speak, and they just continue on and plan for next year.

I have learned over the years, in particular through the I Ho Chuan (but also through Thich Nhat Hanh), that every day is a chance to start over. Or if you get right down to it, every moment is a new opportunity. It’s never too soon to pick yourself up and start moving forward. Baby steps perhaps, but always forward.

There will always be days that are difficult to get things accomplished. But if we recognize this, give ourselves a break, and start over we are on the track to succeed.

Black Belt Success Cycle

Time is something you can never get back. Moments are just that, moments. If we are not stopping every so often, we miss things that we can never get back.

Having a dream is different than having a goal. But a goal is a dream if a success cycle isn’t implemented.

Step 1 - have a goal. Something that you want to achieve.
Step 2 - have a plan (and a success coach). Without this, step 1 remains a dream. A plan is also more than I will just do this and that. It requires defined steps, and perhaps some guidance from someone who has already taken that path. Say you want to be confident in a specific form. Your goal might be, to achieve this in 1 month. That’s nice, but how? It might start better as I will do this form 3 times every day. But life has a way of interfering so this probably isn’t enough. It might be best done by setting the alarm clock 15 minutes early so there aren’t any distractions and then it’s also done for the day and not getting pushed farther and farther away.
Step 3 - take CONSISTENT ACTION. This is the biggest key. If you only do 3 sets every few days at best, you aren’t going to see your goal. You must push yourself to follow your plan every day. No exceptions.
Step 4 - review your progress. If your plan maybe wasn’t super precise, you may wish to review it half way to your goal. You might not be where you think are if you haven’t taken consistent action. Or maybe 3 times a day isn’t enough to see any progress.
Step 5 - review your goal. Maybe you got confident way sooner than you thought, or you still aren’t even after the month of training. This tells you that either, the goal wasn’t challenging enough, or maybe it was too much in a short amount of time.

Dreams are just dreams unless you turn them into a goal. Time is fleeting, as are moments unless you try to hold onto them. Things change, moments disappear, and people leave.

Gratitude

One of my requirements this year is to keep a daily gratitude journal. On one hand, it intimidates me to do this every day. But at the same time, I can see how it can and will benefit me.
It can be easy to get overwhelmed in our current society. We are bombarded with social media, and we seem to be busier than ever in our quest for more.
I think this will be a great tool, to break down my day, every day to the very basics that I know I take for granted. I am sure that when I feel overwhelmed, I can simply open up my journal and re-centre myself with my previous posts.
I can start this today with a couple of things. I am grateful for being able to sit by a fire and snuggle with our dog, while my husband sits close by. I am grateful that he cut wood and built the fire. I am grateful as I write this that I am able to participate in the I Ho Chuan this year. I could keep going, but that is for the journal...

Onwards

Sometimes the hardest thing is starting. I had a great blog in my head this morning as I lay in bed, but by the time it came to write it down, it was long gone. Oops.

This past year has had many ups and downs, and I am looking forward to starting the I Ho Chuan again this year after taking a year off. It sure went fast. I took last year off so that I could focus more on taking care of my back and trying to strengthen it and while I have noticed a small difference it hasn’t really changed much. Oh well, it is what it is.

I have my requirements in place and am now working on my tracking sheets. I have a notebook that will be with me all the time to track, so hopefully I won’t forget to log my numbers.

Here’s to the year of the Rat

Earth

I had the opportunity to walk in the March for Climate Change this past Friday, and in was amazed at the turnout. While the rally/ protest itself doesn’t do anything, it does bring the awareness to our political parties that, we the people and our future generations want something done now. I was proud to see both my kids there on their own volition, and that they stood for what they believe in.

I would like to see more diversity with our economy so that we are much less reliant on our fossil fuels, I would like to see more alternatives for energy, more trees protected and planted, our waterways cleaned and protected and so much more. There is no planet B.

15 Years

If I had only 15 years left to live, I would try to cherish every moment I had. I would travel more, take in the outdoors more, and I would spend more time with family and friends. I would try to let things go, and focus on the good things. I would try to show kindness to everyone I met, and hope that it ripples outwards. I would try to be the best version of myself that I could be. But it doesn’t really matter how many years I may have, as we never truly know. So I need to apply these things whether I have 15 years or 50 years to live. I have one life, and I don’t want any regrets.

Different, yet the same.

For a while now, Sifu Brinker has been saying that we should be standing ‘in’ our legs, not ‘on‘ our legs. And Sifu Dennis has been telling us to sit in our high chairs, as if we are sitting on the edge with our knees slightly bent.

I have been looking at them as two separate things, but a week ago I suddenly started to see them as a very similar thing. I spoke with Sifu Hayes about it to see if I was on the right track and he totally made sense of it for me. As did Sifu Brinker yesterday when I asked him about it.

If you stand rigidly, either in your stance or just standing around, chances are your knees are pretty much locked and you will not be stable. Alternatively, if you bend your knees slightly and allow your feet to root into the ground you will be a force to be reckoned with. Your shoulders will sit slightly forward from your hips and your butt will not be sticking way out. You should feel centred and strong.

This was eye opening for me and has made a big difference in how I am looking at and practicing both my Kung Fu and Tai Chi. This is truly a lifelong journey, and there is so much to learn!