Monday, May 26, 2014

     Many times it might feel that you keep falling flat on your face. No matter how much effort you are putting into the task at hand you never move forward and sometimes move backward. This can be extremely discouraging. Hanging up your hat and giving up appears to be the only option.
     At these times is when you should step back and evaluate what you have really accomplished. By taking this serious look at yourself you can realize that you really are moving forward. It is just in the hectic day to day frustrations that you become blinded to the positive accomplishments.
     I see this in myself. Why am I doing the same thing day in and day out? Why is it that when I am trying my hardest that I seem to get no where. That is when I have to step back and see my own positive accomplishments. This is how I have come to view many things in life and how I am able to keep such a positive outlook. It is at these times that I fall back on to my martial arts training.
   By the average on looker a kata can appear to be this boring set of moves that are repeated over and over. Even to those who are practicing the kata have a tendency to get bore. Those are the ones that quit and move on to the next challenge that stimulates their imagination. What practicing the slow methodical movements inn the kata are doing is ingraining it into the mind. It is making the body remember the moves automatically so that eventually you master the techniques. Being a master of techniques means that now you are able to perform faster, with more accuracy and with more power. Why? Because you are not thinking but reacting.
     So you want to start exercising but just cannot seem to motivate yourself off the "couch" and down to the gym. Well, there are plenty of things that you can do to start moving yourself that direction. Start out by going out for walks. Sooner or later those walks turn into jogs, which turn into running. Or, start out with getting down on the floor and doing sit-up (or push-ups). Even if it is only one sit-up, do it. Come back tomorrow and do another one, and another one the next day. Until finally that one turns into two, which turns into three and eventually it will turn into 50, 100, 500, 1000 or more. It all starts with one.
    Now some will ask how I get off giving this advice. I can be lazy right along with the best of them, but I have been making changes. I did take about 1 1/2 years off of training and I am back. Taking slow steps but I am back. I now am up to doing 4 sets of 10 push-ups most evenings and about 100 sit-ups in the evenings. I also look forward to more to come. Now I am a very experienced excuse maker. With each passing day I am becoming more proficient with my exercises and like what I am seeing. I am also looking forward to the time that I can run farther than a 1/4 mil before my asthma kicks my butt.
     I hope that this journey that I am reclaiming as my own can be an inspiration to others. Hope that you too will make that commitment to accomplishing your own goals, on matter what those goals might be. Take charge of yourself and change you for the better.

Saturday, May 24, 2014

Well the move is over. We moved from our house in Wisconsin to an apartment in Tennessee. After a few months in the apartment we were fortunate enough to be able to buy a house. Now that we are fairly settles here it is time to get back here and take care of things that have been neglected for way too long.

Lately, my goals and ambitions have been significantly increasing. On the down side my motivation has been holding steady and even decreasing a little. NOW is the time to change that again. NOW is the time to take a control of the future and shape it into something that I want, not something that it wants.

It is so easy to fall in the trap of keeping on with the same things, day in and day out. There are so many distractions out there that just get in the way, that zap the energy out of a person. Distractions that give a false feeling of happiness and comfort. In all reality nothing will change with out action.

For me my biggest vice is Netflix. In our family we have decided not to buy regular T.V. and just use Netflix for our entertainment. Unfortunately it is easy to get sucked into this trap, this addicting need to for visual stimulation. What is it really doing? Zapping our drive to and giving the false sense of comfort and happiness.

I will be keeping on with the Netflix, it is a good, cheap source of movies and other entertainment for the family. What I will be doing is limiting my exposure to its contents so that I can make something of this life that I am living. I need to get back to the basics taking care of my spiritual health, my physical health, creating a healthier family structure and building a healthier financial outlook.

I have vowed to start working out again. This included not only exercise but eating healthier and learning the most I can about healthy lifestyles. I am also in the process of registering for classes, which will allow for the advancement in the workplace.

I am very excited about this and am looking forward to self improvement. Taking the readers of this blog will definitely be something I am looking forward to. If this journey can help change the outlook for just one person then it is well worth it.