Today is the day I had set in my training goals to review my progress and have Master Brinker look over my training journal.

As I reflect on the last 2 months (I began on July 1st), I am confronted with the fact that I am not where I had hoped I would be. Granted, I have had successes, but one goal in particular is bothering me; tai chi.

I had set quite a few goals for myself to have completed by October 31. These goals included 150 push ups a day, 150 sit ups a day, learn the spear form, perfect my fan form and learn the tai chi long form. So far I have kept up my push ups and sit ups ( I do 160 of each now), I have learned the spear form and have been pushing forward.

But, the tai chi form is still on my to-do list.

Tai chi has never been my favorite part of Kung-Fu; I've never really liked it. However, I know it is good for me. The benifits to one's flow, centering, balance, etc. are tremendous and I should be all over it, but I'm not.

So, as I sit here reflecting, I'm trying to come up with a good excuse as to why I've been avoiding it. Truth be told though, I have only myself to really answer to when it comes to achieving my goals, so why bother trying to find excuses anyway?
I need to stop focusing on the problem (Oh my gosh I haven't learned it yet! I've been lazy and procrastinating and how the heck am I going to learn all this?!?) and focus on the solution (you can do this...think!).

Here it goes:

Tai chi action plan

step 1: Define the goal
I want to be able to make it through the entire tai chi long form without stopping or getting help. I will utalize the following resources: fellow black belts to learn from and the video to fine tune.

step 2: Motivation
I will have to stay motivated and focused if I want to succeed.
options: start a tai chi log
train with a buddy
reward myself when I succeed

choice: I will keep a tai chi log of my progress and will reward myself when I have learned it. The reward is yet to be decided.

step 3: Practice
I need to actually buckle down and practice this if I'm going to succeed.
options: practice once a week
practice once a day

choice: practice once a day. I'll do it once a day at least.

step 4: Deadline
I want to have this completed ultimatly by October 31.


This action plan takes effect as of tomorrow, September 1st.

There, a solution has been created, now I just need to follow through with it.

Well, my cat successfully published 3 blog posts this evening; what a genius.

For the last couple of months I've been trying to dedicate more time and effort to my training. I've been struggling with achieving my goals and, with another school year fast approaching, tonight I found myself worrying about my training when school begins, with exams, projects and what not also on my plate.

But then Master Brinker's voice popped up in my head and said, "What are you talking about, no time for Kung-Fu? School work is Kung-Fu!"

I am guilty of forgetting this. Kung-Fu is in everything I do, if I look for it. If school work is what will be occupying the majority of my time, then bi-golly I'm going to do my homework like a Kempo Kung-Fu black belt would. I'm going to excersise that brain of mine until it hurts and do the best I possibly can.

All I can do is try my hardest and that's what I'm going to do.

We got a kitten just over a week ago and I've already learned alot from him.

He's an orange tabby and we named him Bastet (after the Egyptian godess of cats). He's very playful and quite smart and he has become the joy of our life.

He has brought to life for me what Master Brinker has been talking about living in the moment. Every second he is discovering new things, playing or just being. He never spends an afternoon watching t.v. or reading trashy magazines. Every day is full of adventure and play, rejuvinating naps and great food and he makes use of every moment.

I've been trying to learn more about living in the moment from little Bastet and tonight I learned a special lesson.

There was a thunder storm tonight and we had the back door open to the screen to let the air in. I had walked away to go back to my t.v. show but I caught Bastet going to investigate. I stood and watched as he stood at the screen watching the lightning and trying to catch the stray drops that landed at his feet. It was so adorable watching him wrinkle his nose as droplets hit him. I walked over and stood with him, t.v. show forgotten, and together we watched the storm. It was quite a light show and I'm glad I didn't miss it.

I have little Bastet to thank for that. Tonight he taught me to keep my eyes open and to see the wonders of the world around me. He's teaching me to live in the moment and I'm so grateful we got him..

What a good little cat! ( He came from Sifu Freitag, breeder of Kung-Fu kitties, and she still has one kitten left I'm pretty sure:)

Blogging again...

I read in the paper today (Edmonton Sun) about the funeral for that boy who was murdered on the grayhound bus.
The story wasn't about how tragic the situation was or how touching the funeral had been. It was about a group of protestors who had threatened to show up and picket the funeral. The group was (from what I got from the story) from a Baptist church in Kansis, USA. They were going to picket the funeral because they believed that the murder was God's punishment for Canada's liberal views on issues like gay marriage.

I have to say, I was shocked and aghast. All I could think of was how insensitive and inappropriate that protest would have been and I was angered by the idea.

Fortunatly, the protest did not occur, although hurt had already been caused by the threat.

After I got over my disgust, I got to thinking and two issues came to my mind: Method and Motivation

The group's methods were obviously not very effective.What good would that protest have served the group's message? Their goal is to raise awareness and promote their message, but this protest has brought them nothing but bad press and hurt alot of people.

Everyone has an opinion or message or view they believe is right and often people try to persuade others. But you have to think about how you're going to persuade people. You don't do it by offending people or upsetting them. You do it by convincing them that they will benefit from that viewpoint. You convince people by your own happiness and success. When people see you living the good life, they want the same and are therefore willing to listen to your advice or suggestion. You must woo them with your words and actions.

Their lack of empathy also had me questioning their motives. When we protest something or try to raise awareness about a cause, we must remember our ultimate goal: to make the world a better place for everyone, not just ourselves. It should be an act of love for the human race, not an act of hatred. So a situation like this causes one to think, are they promoting this message to better the lives of others, or to legitimize their own point of view?

It comes down to selflessness verses selfishness. Someone acting selflessly will try to help others lead a better life and isn't afraid of standing up for what they believe in because they know it is right and good. Someone acting selfishly acts out of a lack of confidence in their own beliefs and a need to find validation; the aren't trying to help others, they're trying to feel good about themselves.

So I'm going to try to keep this in mind as I try to raise awareness for issues I find important. I need the right Methods and the right Motivations.

My thoughts and prayers go out to the family of that poor boy. What a tragedy.