Embracing the here and now also means letting go of what once was and recognizing when, where and how my ego tries to insert itself.
A thought that very recently popped into my head was that I'm letting people down and letting myself down. It was a very quick, and random thought with some emotion (guilt) attached. Shortly after I questioned how much of that random thought was ego.
Ok ego, thank you - I've got this.
Yes, I am having somewhat of an internal challenge with the changes to my Kung Fu world these past months. For many years I was very engaged with Kung Fu, attending my own classes, IHC most years and helping out in other classes. A fairly solid routine had been built that ebbed and flowed to a small degree, but was relatively consistent year after year. The Kwoon has been like a second home for me and many aspects of Kung Fu have become ingrained in my everyday life. And at this moment it feels a bit like it's slowly slipping away. I know this isn't completely accurate and yet I do need to be careful and find ways to stay engaged.
Having my ego surface like that gave me the opportunity to look a bit closer at the changes so that I can reflect, understand and make peace with everything. It is not a quick fix but much easier to work out when I acknowledge what is happening.
What I find interesting is I don't view any of what I'm experiencing as bad, down, or failing. I actually feel resistance when thinking about and trying to attach the opposite of good as bad or the opposite of up as being down. So where does that leave me and how do I quantify what I'm feeling and where I am at? The short answer is I am human. I'm learning, growing and living and loving life the best I can.