"Horse Power"

I am very thankful to have been able to take part in Friday night's horse experience put on by Mr. McKee. Thank you Mr. McKee for providing this opportunity and sharing your time, knowledge and expertise with all of us.


When we first walked around the area to greet all the horses, I was surprised to find I picked the lead horse to work with for the night. Some of them are very similar and if I had realized Dusty was the lead horse, I probably would have steered clear of him. I not the person to take on the lead anything, most times. I'm glad everything worked out the way it did though because surprisingly enough the horse and I worked quite well together. I was actually able to communicate and get the horse to follow direction with out too much trouble. Although it could be that Dusty is just very well trained.

The blind fold exercise was great fun and riding bareback was a super end to the evening. Getting off the horse without a stool was a bit scary, but I managed to land on my feet. Yay!

respect
mood
expectations
confidence
communication
adjustments
rewards
gratitude

These are all things that we need to be aware of and practise when interacting with people or animals. We become much better teachers and even students and can accomplish so much more.

Thank you again Mr. McKee! I expanded my bubble and had a great time with the horses and the other team members.

Michele Ward

The Best Use of Time & Space

My work schedule this past week finally included two days off. I have been working 6 days a week most weeks. I really need that extra day off from time to time to accomplish things that are not a priority, but are still needing to be taken care of.

As I have mentioned before, goal setting is not something I excel at or even like. In fact, I'm down right resistant to the process and only formally set goals when necessary. Which is probably one of the reasons it took me so long to get my personal requirements in to Sifu Brinker for this years I Ho Chuan team. 

I know that with my work schedule the way it is, I need to start making lists and creating some sort of life schedule, to better organize myself and take advantage of all those little spaces of time throughout the day. Even though I know this needs to be done and will be beneficial, I have not been able to start the process. I think about it from time to time, it's in the back of my mind, but I seem to be unable to get started. 

My work schedule has started to lighten up somewhat and that is going to mean a few more hours some weeks to accomplish other things. Those extra hours will create space that needs to be used wisely, otherwise they became wasted time, which makes having a schedule and lists in place more important than ever. More time and space could actually create mediocrity if I am not careful. 

The question is... how do I get started? I think that is a big part of the problem. There doesn't seem to be a specific formula to follow and I would much rather just go with the flow. I had a feeling early on that the process of setting goals was going to become a natural outcome of being on the team this year. This is another one of those add ons that will naturally evolve over the year. 

 I think one of the reasons I am having a such a hard time with this process is just being overwhelmed with the amount of work it is going to take to create and organize a schedule and lists. Part of me would much rather not see all that needs to be taken care of. Yet, I know that because I am not as organized as I could be, I am dropping the ball at times... both big and little balls. Flow still needs to happen and that is where our ability to make adjustments to our schedule will come into play. 

After reading one of Mr. Helm's blogs yesterday, I was motivated to jot down some ideas to start adding to my lists. It felt good to do even that little bit. I would appreciate any advice and help so that I can figure all this out and continue with the process.

Michele Ward

  

Adding On

I have seen a pattern of sorts emerging over the past ten weeks. Along with my reflections each week, I find myself discovering new items to add on to the list of my personal goals. Although these add ons have not formally been added to my list, I do feel the need to informally add them to my daily routine.

On Thursday night my anxiety spiked suddenly and caused me a lot of difficulty. I spent the first half of the night's informal class in the change room. After calming down enough to venture back out onto the mats I was able to get some practice in with my cane form. The positive outcome to all this is my conversation at the end of the night with Sifu Hayes. We had a great conversation about breathing properly. Even when I think I am breathing in through my diaphragm, I am not isolating the area and I still use my chest as well. I know that when I am nervous or concentrating I also have a tendency to forget to breathe. This issue with breathing shows up when I am doing forms as well. Breathing exercises and consciously breathing as I do my forms is a goal I have now added into my daily practice.

The following items are some of the add ons I have started to incorporate:

• Breathing exercises -  practise proper breathing and consciously breathe throughout forms 
• 15 minute Qi Gong practice each day
• Positivity- recognizing negative thoughts, emotions & actions, and learning from them to create opportunity and positive outcomes for myself as well as others
• Creating lists and schedules for myself to be better organized and stay on track

As I continue on through the year I'm sure that more items will be added and my list for next years team will continue to evolve naturally.

Quite often I find myself jotting down thoughts and ideas as I am reading other team members journal posts. Journaling is an extremely powerful tool that benefits everyone. Writing and reading journal posts creates team engagement, connection and expands our knowledge. I could go on and on about the importance of journaling and the ripple effect it has. When I read other peoples journal posts I learn so much. Ideas and opportunities are created. Surrounding oneself with like minded people all striving towards mastery and doing so publicly is extremely powerful!

Michele Ward

   
                           


           

The Power and Potential of a Goal

The Suzuki family spent 10 days in 1989, visiting the village of Aucre in the Brazilian rain forest. Severn Suzuki who was 9 years old at the time returned home fearful about the future of her new friends in Aucre. She formed a club called ECO (Environmental Children's Organization) when she returned home. These 10 year old girls spoke out about nature, people, the need to protect them and overtime they were invited to visit classes and give talks.

Severn had an even bigger goal and that goal involved taking ECO to the Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro in June 1992. With help from two philanthropists and a lot of fundraising of their own, over $13,000 was raised to help get them to Rio. These funds were also matched by her parents, David and Tara Suzuki.  

ECO rented a booth at the Earth Summit along with hundreds of other groups and talked to numerous people. These five girls from Canada were filmed and interviewed by reporters and made quite an impact. Severn was then invited to address a plenary session during the summit. With help from fellow ECO members, Severn wrote her speech and rehearsed it in the taxi ride to Rio Centro. She was the last to speak in front of a few hundred delegates.

This is some of what she said:

I'm only a child and I don't have all the solutions, but I want you to realize, neither do you. You   don't know how to fix the holes in the ozone layer. You don't know how to bring the salmon back up a dead stream. You don't know how to bring back an animal now extinct. And you can't bring back a forest where there is now a desert. If you don't know how to fix it, please stop breaking it...

In my country we make so much waste; we buy and throw away, buy and throw away. Yet northern countries will not share with the needy. Even when we have more than enough, we are afraid to lose some of our wealth, afraid to let go...

You teach us how to behave in the world. You teach us not to fight with others; to work things out; to respect others; to clean up our mess; not to hurt other creatures; to share, not be greedy. Then why do you go out and do the things you tell us not to do?...

My dad always says, "You are what you do, not what you say." Well, what you do makes me cry at night. You grownups say you love us. I challenge you. Please, make your actions reflect your words.

I'm only a child, yet I know if all the money spent on war was spent on ending poverty and finding environmental answers, what a wonderful place this Earth would be...

  Severn Cullis-Suzuki, age twelve, Earth Summit,
  Rio de Janeiro, June 1992


Spoken from the heart!


Michele Ward

Influencing Moods

My mind has been all over the place this week. Part of the issue is the renovation chaos I'm still dealing with, which adds stress and takes my mind to all sorts of places. I have also discovered that other peoples moods affect how I am feeling to some extent. My oldest son has a couple of big changes happening in his life and is experiencing some difficulties, which is causing him anxiety and stress. It's easy as a parent to take on your child's stress even when they are grown adults. I'm happy to add he has been able to get everything sorted out.

Then I had a client in the middle of the week that was super excited due to an upgrade her and her family were able to take advantage of for their upcoming cruise. They upgraded to a suite on board the ship at a much reduced cost, which comes with extra perks, like butler service and more living space. She was practically bouncing when she stopped by the office to pick up her documents and was very thankful for everything I had done for her. Her mood and excitement was contagious and affected everyone in the office a positive way. I still smile when I think of her and how excited she was.

Stress, anger and fear are issues we all deal with to some extent. There are times when we need to share with others and I think it is important to acknowledge how you are feeling (good or bad) and talk to someone when needed. We also need to realize when certain things are beyond our control and just need to play out. Quite often obstacles are put in our path for a reason and are opportunities to learn and grow.

 I have realized this week, that a positive attitude, happiness and joy, has not only more benefits, but also a much longer lasting effect on yourself and those around you than most stressful situations.


Michele Ward
                                                         
   

Cluttered Space Equals a Cluttered Mind

This past week has reconfirmed my need for an orderly and uncluttered house. Instead of orderly and uncluttered, my house has been turned upside down due to renovations for over a week now. My dog experienced an anxiety attack over a month ago and destroyed the carpet in my bedroom. Luckily the damage (carpet & paint) was covered by my house insurance, but in order to save money I removed all the trim, old carpet and the toilet from the en suite and painted all the walls myself prior to the new flooring being installed.

If you ever want to fully understand how much stuff you have accumulated then just move everything out of one room and you may be surprised. Unpleasantly, I may add! Construction debris, furniture, decor and personal belongings are now spread throughout my house. I know that I do not function well in this type of environment and I find myself loosing focus. There have been a couple of days this week where my numbers were not as good as they could have been and I also missed both my morning classes due to exhaustion. As much as I would have liked to attend, something had to give. My cane form is not yet complete and I'm not even sure where to find the time to fit in some practice. Just thinking about the clutter and everything that still needs to be put back together and cleaned up causes me stress.

I started working on purging and decluttering my house during the summer and obviously still have a long way to go. I plan to continue to work on one room at a time in between everything else going on. For me a clean and uncluttered living space equals calm and creates a positive energy flow.

Michele Ward
                

Measuring Sticks

Part 1:

The requirements that are a part of being on the I Ho Chuan team can be easily tracked and measured. By recording our efforts on a daily basis, we are able to quickly see the progress we have made and determine if we are on track and whether adjustments are needed. The requirements are tools to help us on our journey and the process of recording our numbers is a type of measuring stick that shows us where we are at and where we need to be.

At the end of my first year on the team, I was able to quickly see everything I had accomplished throughout the year, because I had logged all my numbers daily in a note book. I was happy with the results and yet disappointed for some reason.  I struggled with my own expectations of what I had hoped to gain from my year of the sheep. I did the push ups and sit ups etc... but the growth wasn't there. Or so I thought at the time!

Some things are much harder to measure than others, so I read over all my journal posts for the year and made some amazing discoveries. Not only was journaling also a tool to measure progress, it had also helped me to develop a habit and the ability for reflection and contemplation. This ability to reflect helped me to realize that my own expectations had created a blockage and once I let go of those expectations I was able to realize the unexpected growth and bonuses of the year.

Part 2:

Silent River Kung Fu utilizes an intelligent curriculum as part of it's training program and the Benevolent Foundation plays an important role in that curriculum. The Benevolent Foundation is a non-profit organization focused on raising public awareness and oversees all money raised for the various charities and initiatives that the Kwoon and its students are involved in. Commitments have been made to specific charities and they have come to rely on the money we are able to raise for them each year. Even though the money is important; awareness, empathy and compassion are the primary goals. The success of the intelligent curriculum is measured in part by the money raised and yet if people simply write a check then the purpose has been lost.

 So how do we accurately measure things like awareness, empathy and compassion? I think we need to keep a record of anything our students do that reflect an understanding of awareness, empathy and compassion. This record should be public for everyone to recognize and celebrate. A student that dyes their hair pink, or donates their hair for wigs, someone that asks for pet supplies to donate to Scars instead of birthday gifts, students taking the time to research one of the charities, a report done on bullying, wearing a pink shirt for anti-bullying day, etc. These are just some of the ways we can measure the qualities we are trying to teach the students of Silent River Kung Fu.

Yes, some things are definitely harder to measure than others. With a little extra effort and some creative thinking anything can be accomplished. I have come to realize that expectations sometime cloud our perspective. Maybe... just maybe, more has been accomplished than we realize. I think it is beneficial to make use of more than one type of measuring stick!

Michele Ward