Cheerio mate! How is the training coming along? The weather here has been dreadful although, depending on where you’re tuning in from the same could be true for you as well! The ice-cold, sniffling noses and bulking up (in warm layers) has me reminiscing about the good ol’ days! Ah yes, those days when we would pal around, up to no good…
Remember when your parents wanted you to devote your time to something worthwhile, but your intent was focused on the next adventure, the next scheme being concocted by your best buds? And what did they mean, anyway, your parents… isn’t that what you were doing?! Forging bonds that were tried and true, learning life lessons, avoiding detention and building memories that would get you thru growing up and becoming, YUCK!, an adult?
Remember being fickle and liking this or that, the fads, the music, the teen angst and boredom? It’s like a scene out of a bad movie or a good book; the in-crowd, the jocks, the druggies, the book-worms, the lost, the condemned, the bullies and the bullied, the in-betweeners (that didn’t fit anywhere but were everywhere)… the perfect recipe for disaster. How did any of us survive? How were we expected to know what path to take next, what journey would await us as we exited those doors that had kept us relatively safe over the years?! Yet we all made it; despite or in spite of it all. For some of us, brazilian jiu-jitsu hadn’t arrived on the scene yet and for others we were diligently plugging away at (unknowingly) improving our minds and bodies (we just thought it was cool!)…without realizing the gift that had been bestowed upon us.
There are a lot of different reasons people sign on the dotted line, slip into a gi and step onto the mats. They are each unto their own personal & individual; like finds like and new bonds are constructed or at least training partners are found! It’s not easy learning the techniques presented, it’s not easy training your mind and body to go against the grain. This is your time to enjoy the trek. Be diligent in your training and find what works for you in this ocean of jiu-jitsu. Swim with the sharks friend. Bare your teeth and dig in. Remember that this is a journey, not a vacation, not a sprint to the finish line. We each find our way in our own time.
