My Place

   Last night I had both the privileged and responsibility of attending an event that I take great pride and am very humbled to be allowed to be part of. This yearly event re-affirms my beliefs and responsibilities as a Black Belt. It reminds me that I am not alone in my journey, that I have the most amazing support group imaginable. The lineage, the history, the traditions, the expectations, the acceptance, it can all be overwhelming at times. But this group of people have got my back, always. They want me to succeed as much, if not more, than I do.

   I take being a black belt very seriously. Every day I ask myself (internally) whether or not what I am doing or saying furthers my path to mastery or diminishes it. It is hard, there is no denying that, but it is hugely fulfilling at the same time. I make errors in judgement, a lot, I accept that. The thing is did I correct/learn anything from it? If not, why not, if yes, carry on Daddyo. It is a constant struggle that is mostly self imposed. The company I keep, the foods I choose, the use of time, all within my control. So am I doing right or wrong by my choices, that is my constant question of myself. 

   Reaffirming my responsibilities as a black belt give me a chance to re-access who I am. Good or bad, my truth is right there in front of me, I cannot and will not hide from it. I am not perfect, but knowing that and accepting that allow me to realize that I am working towards trying to be a better human. There is no giving up on myself, I am only here for a blink of an eye, so I must make a small ripple in the pond of my time for the good of my existence. Being a dad, husband, son, uncle, friend all come with very similar responsibilities to being a black belt. They overlap all the time. So I must make good choices, not easy choices. Sometimes these are the same but usually they are not. But I am willing to put in the work because the reward/enlightenment is so much greater. 

   So being a black belt is amazing, if you let it be. Last night reminded me of that, and I will do my utmost to never tarnish the ideals that it represents.

 

 

Push Ups   27160

Sit Ups  25451

Sparring 640

1609KM  1827.20 km

Acts of Kindness Recorded  1525

Hand Form  537

Weapon Form  560

Mastery recited  20

 

Been a Minute

   December 19, seems like forever ago. 17 days ago today in fact. Wow, feels weird being away from the Kwoon for this long. Tomorrow will be like a home coming of sorts, I really miss this place. 

   What have I been up to in this huge break I ask myself? Other that the standard holiday stuff, it has been all about basement renovations. Our home is not big so maximizing space is a must and the basement has been a "stuff" collector for years, almost to the point of being unusable. Yikes!! That is not Mastery. That is pure laziness and procrastination on my part. Every time I went down to the basement, I was both mad and embarrassed with myself. This is the basement of someone who just plain and simply does not care! So we took action (we - Deb, Kody and I). Five days of sorting, building, tearing down, throwing out twenty+ year old stuff, cleaning, just plain old hard work and voila! We now have a usable basement. New dart board and surround - done, new shelving along east wall - done, bins of really old wires and cable - gone (mostly), a full load of stuff to the dump - done. Am I done, nope, just getting started!! And boy does this feel good! Now to go through the donation pile (books and DVDs mostly) and finish some electrical, heater duct work and hang some long forgotten pictures and poof... time to reno the "office/spare bedroom" upstairs - this is another huge job but now I am motivated by the basement reno, so I will carry on while I have momentum. 

   And as a bonus, I now have way more room to practice my Kung Fu, like about 10 square feet more, sweeeeet!

 

..

    See you all back at the Kwoon tomorrow!!👍😁, bring on the banquet!!

.

Push Ups 26926

Sit Ups  25051

Sparring 640

1609KM  1763.34km

Acts of Kindness Recorded  1505

Hand Form 530

Weapon Form  550

Mastery recited 19