Letting go.....humility and starting over.

Throughout my life I have been faced with many people saying "your to small", "your not smart enough" etc.  You try and block these things from your mind and tell yourself "I don't believe them".  However these things tend to stick and especially if you been told this when you are growing up as a child.  Life can be cruel and people crueler.  For most all of my adult life I have set about proving people wrong and self justifying that I have succeeded and these people where wrong.  But really what is success?  Is that fancy car that you bought that shows people "Hey I am a success!!"  or is that title in your work that has "Director or VP"?  I think too often we measure success by what the material things we have acquired and what titles we have achieved.  But is that really success??  I used to think exactly that.  I used to measure my success around material things and titles.  To me it was a very easy way to prove to myself that I had made it and show other people look at me!!

I no longer measure my self the same way. I have a sense of humility that I never had before. It takes work to change your thinking and it must be a continual every day thing. What I truly love about Kung Fu is the positive attitude that people have. The sense of humility that not only our Sifu's have but pretty much everyone at the Kwoon has. It's energy helps keep my ego in check and helps grow my humbleness that is so important in not only Kung Fu but life.


It was only five years ago that my personal life came crashing down.  I realized that I was very very selfish and had a huge ego.  I had to hit rock bottom to truly realized what I was and what I had become.  My wife is an absolute angel!!  With out her I would not be here today and I fear that I would have stayed on that destructive path that I was on.  She along with my children are the most important things in my life I know I don't tell them that enough, but I am working on that!!


When I started the new chapter of life five years ago a dear friend and colleague shared with me the 10 commandments of human relations that I would like to share with you.

1. Speak to people - there is nothing as nice as a cheerful greeting
2. Call people by name - the sweetest music to hear is one's name called
3. Have HUMILITY - There is something to be learned from every living thing
4. Be friendly - if you want to have a friend, be one
5. Be cordial - speak and act as if everything you do is a pleasure
6. Be interested in others - you can like almost everyone if you try
7. Be generous with praise - cautious with criticism
8. Give your word - then keep it
9. Be considerate - of the feelings of others
10. Be alert to give service -what counts most in life is what we do for others

Ian

Back at it

Last night I attended class and it was GREAT!!  It was so nice to walk into the kwoon and see all the people that I haven't seen for the past three weeks.  The feeling I got was that I was truly missed by some people and that is an amazing feeling.  I got a chance to speak with Sifu Shipalesky before class and we both shared how difficult it is to keep everything in balance.  Everyone has their challenges keeping their lives in balance and from time to time they get do get unbalanced. 

I have a business mentor that keeps reminding me of the following and I think it is so true.  He says the following, "If you don't balance your own life, life will balance things up for you and you probably won't like the results".  To me this rings so true that we have a responsibly to do our best to keep things balanced.

Yesterday was a big step forward in regaining the balance in my life as Kung Fu has become a big part of the equation.  I also must say that my loving wife and children play a huge role in my life.  They keep me grounded and focused on what is most important in my life and that is my family.

 

Lost......balance.....

Hello Everyone,

Here I am sitting in my hotel room in Calgary at 12:45 am and I am reflecting on how I have lost my way in Kung Fu.  I have not been able to attend many classes lately as I have been called away on business for most of August.  This has been an important time for me in my work life but my personal life and my kung fu life has suffered.  There is an empty spot in my life right now and it is a result of my not being able to attend my classes.  Kung Fu has become a really big parft of my life and it is hard to explain to anyone that is not involved in martial arts........  I really don't know how to expalin it other that it gives me balance in a very hectic world.  I am very busy trying to balance my work life with my personal life and my kung fu life and it is not easy at all.  For the past three months I have fully dedicated myself to kung fu and managed to balance my life.  Recently my work has taken over my life and everything is out of balance. 

I need to get it back into balance and Sifu Brinker and all the other Sifu's have helped keep the balance in the past.  Sifu Brinker has said balance is sooooo important in life but it is so hard to achieve and I am really struggling to keep it all in check.......

I am spending the next three days in Calgary but I hope to get back to classes this week and get thinks back into balance and get my training started again......

Ian
Student of Kung Fu
Silent River Kung Fu