I am a Beacon!

“What is given to you is given to share, not to keep” – Mother Theresa

I am a beacon. And as a beacon I have the ability to inspire, encourage, guide and support those around me. Actively working on my personal growth and blogging about my journey gives my inner light direction and purpose, lighting the way for others. Journaling gives me a voice and feeds my soul. My growth is messy at times and yet still beautiful because it is real and a part of who I am. 

We are all beacons no matter where we are at on the journey of life. We can be at the bottom of the mountain/journey just starting out and still be a beacon for others. We can be somewhere in between slowly plodding along and struggling at times and also be a beacon or we can be near the top of the mountain lighting the way. We are all connected through our successes and failures.

The essence of our humanness is more powerful when explored and shared. Our actions and our voice create direction and guidance. It is reflection and inner work that allows me to grow and shine and be a beacon for myself and others. As I learn, reflect and grow, I share valuable lessons and provide insights to guide, inspire and encourage those around me. Kung Fu and the IHC team are full of opportunities to fuel my inner light and help others move forward on their journey.

The beauty of this I am topic is it ties so beautifully into all the other I am topics. Being a beacon means I am also an example, a teacher, a student, a warrior and humble to name a few. 

I am a beacon!

Board Breaking

Board breaking is an important part of our curriculum and is either loved or feared by many students. I myself fall into the latter category. I've been apprehensive and stressed by the thought of breaking boards. Anxiety took over prior to our recent break-a-thon to the point where I seriously considered just sitting on the sidelines and watching everyone else. I know if I sit and watch I will feel more comfortable, but I will also regret not pushing myself and missing out on the opportunity and lessons to be learned. The rational part of my brain reminds me that #1 I've done this before successfully, #2 its not life or death and #3 I may even enjoy myself.  

The pandemic has been beneficial to me in some ways. Allowing me to develop and grow safely within my bubble and reducing my anxiety.  On the other hand some of the forward momentum I had gained prior to the pandemic has been lost or delayed. So it's times like board breaking that I feel like I'm starting over.

Did I successfully get through the break-a-thon with at least 10 breaks? Yes. How did I feel afterwards? A mixture of relief and also knowing it was not as bad as I envisioned in my head. I am still very uncomfortable with the idea of breaking actual boards though. Afterwards I had even voiced out loud that I would be fine not being a black belt if it meant not having to do the required board breaks. That's my anxiety speaking for me and also not true because knowing myself, I know I would never let something like the board breaks stand in my way of earning my blackbelt. 

I would like to see board breaking become more than just a yearly event. Did I actually just say that? Yes, because with more practice comes more understanding, increased comfort and skill. I know our training throughout the year provides the knowledge and skill required to break boards but it often takes a physical board in front of us to learn how to overcome mental barriers and transition in class knowledge to actual skill. And practicing more often on an actual board would help to overcome some of my anxiety and mental barriers while building confidence. 

 

Abundance of Emotion!

Wow! I am not even sure how to express the abundance of emotion I feel as I watch everyone's videos . I am feeling blessed and full of gratitude to all of the IHC team members that took on video assignments for the recent challenge - 7 days in the life of the IHC and to everyone that participated in the challenge. Many of the videos have been very creative and all have been inspiring and full of so much wonderful and relevant information and instruction. I'm not sure how many students participated in the challenge, but I do know the value of this project is unmeasurable. Thank you, thank you to our IHC team for your time, your efforts and your hard work in helping to make this project a reality! 

There are times when my creativity surprises me. It is surprising how one little idea can become a project like 7 Days in the Life of the IHC. The challenge started out as wanting to inspire others to generate some healthy and positive habits. From there it started to grow and after talking to Todai Ferris to get some help with organization and her challenge building experience, more and more pieces started coming together. After talking with her I realized I could also involve other team members to help with bonus challenges and videos. One of my favorite aspects of the challenge has been the videos. I built in some basic parameters for the videos, but really wanted things to evolve organically so I stepped back from too much direction and couldn't be happier with the results.

A project like this contains many hidden layers. There are all the videos with valuable information, the tracking sheets to record your success and learn the value of knowing where you are and what you are doing and accomplishing, working towards goals each day, helping students and parents to understand more about the IHC, introducing some of our team members, and providing tools to help create healthy habits just to name a few. And I think it also helps to bring us closer together as a team. We become more unified working towards a common goal. 

If I hadn't stepped outside of my comfort zone to take on this project and ask for help, this challenge would not have taken place. There were definitely a few times when I thought OMG, what have I gotten myself into? I often don't follow through with some of my creative ideas because I am unsure of how to get started and usually see more roadblocks than ways forward. I have learned that we all have our talents and gifts. I don't need to be able to do it all. I can take those ideas and dreams and involve others to help organize and make them a reality. 

Thank you Todai Ferris for all your input and assistance and thank you to an amazing team. Loved, loved, loved the videos and so happy to have student participation!

1/12 of a Teaspoon Part 2

A blog that I wrote almost 2 years ago has been very relevant lately - 1/12 of a Teaspoon. This particular blog has been helping me lately to put things into perspective, especially when I am having difficulty recognizing the efforts I perceive myself to be making and contributions. 

It is also helping me to become more aware of ego and working at set it aside. Ego has no role to play in the life of a honey bee as it buzzes from flower to flower pollinating and collecting nectar for the good of the hive and future generations.  Free from ego their efforts have an immense positive affect.

As I move through my day everything I do matters. My efforts and contributions to myself and the world around me matter. I could produce 1/12 of a teaspoon in a minute, an hour, a day or a month. What's  important is not discounting the size or quantity or my efforts. What matters is consistent effort in some form or another.

Blog from February 1, 2021

- Did you know that the life of a worker bee is 6 to 20 weeks depending on the time of year? Most of that time is spent gathering nectar. And in their lifetime they will only make 1/12 of a teaspoon of honey. All their work is done for the colony, helping future generations and not the individual bee. 

Our team requirements and the goals that we set for ourselves are comprised of fractions of a teaspoon all adding up to greatness. It can be difficult sometimes to see the results that we are building at any given moment, but they are there none the less. 

Whether we are working as an individual, a part of a team or a community every small step we take is part of a larger picture that provides benefits to ourselves and those around us. The benefits may not always be noticeable, but they are real and ripple outward.

There are always going to be those that shine brightly. produce amazing results and are directly responsible for greatness.  However, never discount your own effort and contribution, whatever the size. It all matters! Every 1/12 of a teaspoon counts! 

As I reach for the honey in my pantry I am full of gratitude to all the bees that make honey possible and I am reminded that 1/12 of a teaspoon leads to collective greatness and mastery.

https://ideas.ted.com/if-you-want-to-tackle-big-problems-try-thinking-like-a-bee/

Challenge - 7 Days in the Life of the IHC

For anyone that doesn't already have a sheet to track their progress please make use of the class appropriate tracking sheet below.

There will also be limited copies available at the Kwoon.

September - Numbers To Date

I am much happier with my progress over the month of September. I am mostly back on track, having lots of green days, yellow days and the odd red day. Definitely an improvement over the previous months. Having those numbers in front of me really does help to motivate and encourage further effort. And I have been able to finally recite Mastery without having to look at the sheet.

I still struggle with recording the Acts of Kindness and KM. The KM mostly because I don't use a fitness band to help keep track. My goal for October is to have more consistent green days throughout the month.

PU - 23580                Sparring - 363        

SU - 23130                KM - 650          

Hand Form - 554       AOK - 484

Weapon - 555            Yoga - 16 Hrs

I Am Listening

I am listening quietly to everything around me. I hear the birds chirp, the bees buzz and the leaves softly fall. I hear the sound of my breath as it expands in and out. Tuning myself into the moment and listening brings awareness to the beauty of nature around me. 

I also hear the hum of the lights, the whir of a fan and the noise of traffic going by. As I listen to a conversation or instructions, my brain is absorbing the content and my thoughts develop their own conversation as I pick up on gems of hidden info. Add in background noise, emotions and ego, distractions are everywhere.  

I am constantly challenged to listen while in the Kwoon. Not because I'm not interested but because of the vastness and importance of the information presented. I am sensitive to background sounds and white noise which can prove to be distracting and so I am always having to work on refocusing. Focus my eyes, focus my mind, and focus my body. 

I feel myself 100% in the moment when I quiet my mind & body and focus. I am listening intently and absorbing while also processing. Together, yet separate. My brain absorbs and latches onto to important gems of info contained within the whole. Perhaps I am more intuitive when it comes to picking up those hidden gems of information? This is where it also gets challenging for me. When the message contains additional gems of information needing to be absorbed, I find the speed at which I am able to process is slower than the information coming in.  

I continue to practice my listening skills and develop my ability to process information faster. I am listening! And there is always room for improvement.