Happy New Year, bring on the Rat team!

When it comes to finding inspirations to write about it this is an easy one.  It was an amazing night where two men become our newest Sifu's.  Congratulations to Sifu Sollinger and Sifu Ward.  I had the honour of seeing both of them come through the ranks over the years.  I remember helping teach some classes when Sifu Sollinger came through as an orange belt.  I could see then that he had the desire and mental fortitude to earn his black belt.  

This night was also kind of odd for me.  You see I've been part of the I Ho Chuan team in years past and I was also part of a couple of dragon dances and demo teams.  This year I wasn't as I came back to the school a few months ago.  So to see the demo, the dragon dance and everyone so engaged to make the night what it was, was stunning.  However because I wasn't part of it, I felt a little like an outsider.  I did jump in and organize the serving of the food and this was my way of contributing to the evening and it helped. 

This year is going to bring opportunities to get involved and lead.  I'm excited as we have a strong team of veterans and rookies.  The success of this team will be engagement, leadership and consistency.  We have the tools for success already in our hands.  The success of the team will be how we consistently use the tools, and support each other. 

I'm so excited for this year, bring on the Rat team. 

Mr. Repay

Student of Silent River Kung Fu

Family

Being part of the Rat team for the 2020 I Ho Chuan I've started to reflect upon the importance of my family.  Even though this is my journey, I can't be successful without the support of my family.  In prior years I dove into this journey without much regard to my wife's feelings. I didn't share with her how important this was to me and more importantly why I was on this journey.  As a result there was a lot of resentment from her because of the amount of time I was spending away from her.  

I can't stress enough that this journey MUST include those people with whom you share your life with.  They need to be there to help pick you up when your down and cheer your successes. Going into this year I've shared with my wife what my personal requirements are and why I've decided to undertake this journey. She now understands the "why". 

She's happy for me because she sees how happy it makes me and how Kung Fu has helped me become a better man, husband and father.  

Mr. Repay

Student of Silent River Kung Fu.

Mortality

With the recent passing of Sifu Randy Shipalesky I'm reflecting on my own mortality.  I've taken life for granted as long as I can remember.  It's only recently (past year or two) that I've started to realize that life can end at any moment.  Maybe it's because I'm over 40 and I'm thinking to myself that there's less ahead of me than behind me.  

I've really started to put into perspective what's important to me in my own life.  Some of those things are my children, my wife, my happiness.  What I've also realized that my job, my title at that job and chasing money isn't at the top anymore.  I have a colleauge that when asked the question "what does money mean to you" responded with, slavery.  I was more than surprised with that response but at this point in my life I'm understanding what he means.  By chasing material items that in this world "shows off" your "status" in today's society you become a slave to money.  That used to be me and to a much lesser extent it still is.  However I'm no longer chasing money for those reasons.  

I've come to realize that time spent with the things that mean the most to me will bring me the most satisfaction and love in my life.  It's taken a while to get to this point but it's never too late.

Mr. Repay

Student of Silent River Kung Fu

Personal Victory

This a Stephen Covey concept that simply says that we should have a personal victory every day.  In order to have a personal victory you have to goals and accomplishments for each day.  I've been setting aside one hour each morning between 7am and 8am to focus on what's important to me and what I want that days personal victory to be.  I focus on spending at least 30 min on Duolingo learning Spanish.  The other 30 minutes are for push ups, sit ups and form practise.  At the end of my hour I record what I did on my phone and update my totals.  This is my personal victory and I did it before my day began.

Mr. Repay

Student of Silent River Kung Fu