Camping

Another great weekend! Logan and I headed off to Wabamum Provincial park after school on Friday after school to set up our tent. We were close enough to be able to come back into town so that I could take part in the I Ho Chaun class and then head back out to our campsite. By the time we got back family friends had arrived and were set up also. Everyone had a great time and we all enjoyed relaxing in the great out doors. The combination of camping and the extreme heat did however create a challenge when trying to get in my push ups and sit ups. My totals for the week in those two areas are down a bit, so I will be trying to boost them back up this week if possible. Normally I try to post on Sundays, but we didn't get back from camping until Monday and I was exhausted. Better late than not at all.


Numbers

sit ups        910             21,005
push ups    730             13,327
walking     37.81k        618.26k
kempo       15               134
nunchuks   5                 298
AOK          22               274


Michele Ward

Family

It's been a great weekend! My oldest son Dustin and his girlfriend were here for the weekend from Red Deer. It was great to have the 3 kids and myself all together. A friend of Dustin's came over on Saturday and they all went on a long bike ride together. It was especially good for Logan as he doesn't get the opportunity very often to hang out with his older brother. We celebrated Father's Day with my dad coming over for dinner. Family, fun, laughter,and sunshine. What more could you ask for.

Totals for the week:

Sit ups             1085
Push ups         849
Walking         28.15km
Kempo           17
Nunchuks       7
AOK               28

Have a great week,  Michele

Change

"The only constant in life is change." I'm sure most of you have heard this before. We experience small changes every day as part of our regular daily routine but fail to recognise them as change and just go with the flow. When big changes occur that we aren't expecting or wanting we usually perceive them to be negative and unwanted events in our lives. This can be stressful and cause us to feel overwhelmed and even depressed. We can fail to recognise new paths being created and the potential for new beginnings and opportunities. At times we expend more energy trying to keep everything the same while resisting change. The cycle of life requires constant change. The natural flow of life is disrupted if change is not allowed to happen. Endings create new beginnings.

 Just recently I was telling someone about my struggles at work and that I was considering going back to school. I had talked about a couple of career paths, but wasn't sure yet what direction to take. She was excited that I was about to embark on a totally new path in life. She was more excited for me at that moment than I was for myself. At the time I didn't quite share her enthusiasm, but she is absolutely right. It is a new beginning. Exciting and scary at the same time. 

I've been struggling lately with a lot of changes coming at me from all different directions. I'm afraid that I haven't handled them as well as I should have. It just feels like too much all at once. Even though I know change is positive and can bring about some exciting new beginnings, I'm having a hard time making decisions and working out the logistics. I will be off work for the next 3 weeks on a medical leave of absence. The plan is to do some research in order to make some of those decisions, go to the morning Kung Fu classes, check off some items on my to do list, walk with the dog most days and get some rest in between.

Numbers to date

sit ups        19010

push ups     11728

walking      502km

kempo        102

nunchuks    286

AOK           222

Michele Ward

Commitment

Firstly, I Would like to apologise to all of the I Ho Chuan team members for my recent lack of  engagement and also not posting anything for the previous 2 weeks. I made a commitment to the team and to myself when I signed up for the I Ho Chuan. That commitment has been lacking lately. I had momentarily forgotten that this journey is not just all about me.  Thank you,  Sifu Brinker for the reminder to all of us.
I have been so focused on all the stress taking over my life recently, that I had started to check out. I can usually hold things together quite well as the stress of life builds, but if it gets to be to much I'll do what needs to get done and at the same time start to shut down. Asking for help is something that i have slowwwly been getting better at doing. Who to ask and when to ask and worrying if I'm being a bother are some of the thoughts that go through my head. I've conditioned myself to believe that I'm supposed to figure things out for myself. Sometimes I don't even know what help to ask for. Going forward I will commit to asking for help at least once a week from someone at the kwoon.  So please give me a poke once in awhile to remind me and keep me on track.

I looked up some definitions of commitment and found a few that resonated with me and thought I would share them with you.

Merriam-Webster Dictionary
Commitment - A promise to do or give something: a promise to be loyal to someone or something: the attitude of someone who works very hard to do or support something.

Cambridge English Dictionary
Commitment - A willingness to give your time and energy to something that you believe in.

Urban Dictionary
Commitment - Commitment is what transforms the promise into reality. It is the words that, speak boldly of your intentions. And the action that speaks louder than the words. It is making the time when there is none. Coming through, time after time after time, year after year after year. Commitment is the stuff character is made of: the power to change the face of things. It is the daily triumph of integrity over skepticism.

Michele Ward