I Am....An Explorer

 I Am....An Explorer

 

    When I think of great explorers, I think of the likes of Ferdinand Magellan or James Cook. But I also throw in Albert Einstein, Stephen Hawking, Nicola Tesla, and the list goes on and on. Individuals who had the passion and drive to explore not just the world around them but their own mind and spirit. The tangible and intangible alike, well beyond the arbitrary boundary set by convention. Daring to not be content with what others tell them is the "truth" or "fact", but instead finding out for themselves what is actually their truth.

   Now I am in no way comparing myself to these pioneers of the modern world as we know it. My life is more like PeeWee Herman's Great Adventure that lets say Leif Erikson first setting foot on North America over 1000 years ago. My exploration is usually caused by happenstance.

   Prime example was last night. We (Deb, Kody and I) went to Ribfest at central park on a whim. On the way home, Kody wanted to go down a path I didn't even know was there, hmm. I commented that I had never been in this part of Spruce Grove before now, neat. Got me to thinking about other areas of the city I have now lived in for coming up 20 years that I had absolutely never been to. I have a bike, I have feet, I have a dog that loves walks. Why have I not explored these parts of my home town? Well one reason of course is time, but this is more of an excuse because if I really wanted to get out there and explore I would MAKE the time. The next one is tougher to admit, desire. Part of me says "you haven't been to these places cause you either haven't needed to go there or are just indifferent to them". Ouch. Not much of an outdoor explore here. Lots of room here for me to grow.

   Here we take a turn to the "Me". Kung Fu. A Martial Art with 2000+ years history, vast and colorful, stories and legends that would take a lifetime to hear and learn about. From the external part of the art to the internal, it has no ending, the path forward is forever, it is eternal. Where do I start, well as with the all important first steps in life, I take the first step (duh Don!). In this case I sign up for the journey of my lifetime, done. The key for me here is to keep going, never assuming I know even a millionth of what I need to know. Always learning, exploring our art both externally and internally. As we have learned repeatedly in class, getting a Black Belt is not the end of your exploration of Kung Fu, but merely a sign post on your journey. 

   I honestly look forward to exploring Kung Fu for the rest of my life. I look forward to  reading stories, going to class, interacting with my fellow travelers (that's you fine folks!), the blood, sweat and tears that the journey brings. And oh my what a exploration of me it is, I learn something new about "me" almost every day, wow....I am an explorer - of me.