Why do you train? I don't know. I just do.
Just train. Treat it like a job or an appointment. Whatever your schedule is, the secret to improvement is to just be consistent. Of course, life happens and things happen out of your control and sometimes you won't be able to make it to class because there are some things in life that are more important than your jiu-jitsu training...but don't skip class just because you don't feel like going. Don't skip class because you're lazy and feel down. Go train. Usually you'll feel better after you train. Training can be wonderfully escapist. When you're fighting for your life or just to survive or trying to learn something new, you tend to forget about all the other things that happened during your crappy day. You tend to have a very specific focus when you are being "threatened" or "attacked" (i.e. training). When you are defending against someone trying to choke you or hyperextend your arm, your tend to get very focused and the rest of the world falls away.
Tuesday, February 20, 2007
Monday, February 12, 2007
If I had 30 days...
There are different roads available to take in life. Each has a different amount of risk. You have to find out what is important to you and how much risk you can afford given your personality, financial situation, familial responsiblities etc. In life as an adult, you have responsiblities to yourself and those around you...so how do you find a way to be happy in your life and fulfill your duties and responsibilies as an adult, husband/wife, parent, (insert other descriptive words that define your identity here). Even with all the "identities" and responsiblities that you accumulate, it is still YOUR life and you are responsible for it.
Ask yourself "If I had 30 days to live, what would I be doing? Would it be different than what I am doing now? Am I happy with my life? Or am I somewhat or completely unhappy?
If you are unhappy and find you need to make a change, how do you do it? You have to be realistic. You have to tend to your responsibilities...family, children, future...you can't just be stupid about it.
A relative of mine was about to get married and had many responsibilities running his family business. His life and future was thrust upon him when his father died and he had to step up to the plate, learn as much as he could as quickly as possible and take the reigns...whether he wanted to or not, it didn't matter. What he wanted to do in his life didn't matter...he was now the head of the family and had business to tend to.
Now he was getting married and adding even more responsibilities to what he already had. He seemed to be drowning, getting lost under all the expectations that were being put upon him. So I asked him what he would do if he had 30 days to live. He rattled off a list of all the different places in the world that he wanted to visit. One of the great things about living in the time that we do is that it's possible to go anywhere in the world quite easily. Of course he can't just shirk all his responsiblities and become a vagabond and start travelling the world. Of course not! But what he could do is write down his list of places. Then each year, he can plan a one or two week vacation and visit one of the places on his list. This makes it possible for him to do something that is important for him to do during his lifetime and yet maintain all of his responsiblities and obligations during the rest of the year. He found a way to make his life one he could be happy living.
Ask yourself "If I had 30 days to live, what would I be doing? Would it be different than what I am doing now? Am I happy with my life? Or am I somewhat or completely unhappy?
If you are unhappy and find you need to make a change, how do you do it? You have to be realistic. You have to tend to your responsibilities...family, children, future...you can't just be stupid about it.
A relative of mine was about to get married and had many responsibilities running his family business. His life and future was thrust upon him when his father died and he had to step up to the plate, learn as much as he could as quickly as possible and take the reigns...whether he wanted to or not, it didn't matter. What he wanted to do in his life didn't matter...he was now the head of the family and had business to tend to.
Now he was getting married and adding even more responsibilities to what he already had. He seemed to be drowning, getting lost under all the expectations that were being put upon him. So I asked him what he would do if he had 30 days to live. He rattled off a list of all the different places in the world that he wanted to visit. One of the great things about living in the time that we do is that it's possible to go anywhere in the world quite easily. Of course he can't just shirk all his responsiblities and become a vagabond and start travelling the world. Of course not! But what he could do is write down his list of places. Then each year, he can plan a one or two week vacation and visit one of the places on his list. This makes it possible for him to do something that is important for him to do during his lifetime and yet maintain all of his responsiblities and obligations during the rest of the year. He found a way to make his life one he could be happy living.
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