Vancouver is a beautiful city. Nestled against the Pacific Ocean on the west coast of Canada, it has views of both the ocean and the Rocky Mountains. What more could you ask for? Well, how about one of the most amazing Christmas light displays in the world? (more…)
This is a continuation of an earlier post on the journey to black belt. The grading felt like it was over as soon as it began. One minute we’re warming up, and the next we’re bowing out. I knew it would go quickly, but not that quickly. I mean geeze, I don’t even remember parts of my grading.
I’m told I threw knees during sparring, yet I have no recollection of that. I thought I performed four katas, when I really did six. What I do remember is that the warm-up was tough, designed to exhaust you before the grading even began. If you didn’t pace yourself, you were in for a world of hurt. So what else happened at our black belt grading? (more…)
I hear people complain all the time about how they don’t have this, or how they wish they had that. What I find interesting is that, when I ask them what they’re doing about it, they usually hum and haw and make up some sort of excuse about why “now’s not a good time for change.”
Well, news flash – there’s never a good time for change. We’re creatures of habit, we hate change by default. But if you want things to be different in your life, you need to do things differently. I saw a great comic the other day; in it, a leader stands on a stage asking an audience, “Who wants change?” Everybody raised their hand. Then, in a second image, the same leader asked the same audience, “Who wants to change?” Crickets. Everyone had their eyes to the floor. Two images, one striking message.
Change starts with you. And there’s three things you can do to bring it about. (more…)
It’s a phrase that gets thrown around a lot. There’s artisanal food, artisanal furniture, and artisanal mining – yep, that’s a thing. So what does the word actually mean? And why does it seem to be thrown around so carelessly? (more…)
If you’ve trained in a dojo for any period of time, then you know that there are times where you work with a partner. Most drills require partnership – after all, you don’t learn the physical side of karate just by hitting air. What isn’t immediately apparent to new students though, is that there’s an art to partnership. (more…)
I had a great conversation with some friends recently about our perspectives on friendships. We debated everything from what makes a true friendship, to how to know when a friendship has run its course and it’s time to move on. This second topic is one that I’ve wrestled with before in my life, and I think it’s worth considering a little more deeply. (more…)
There’s a lot of talk these days about mindfulness – there are books on it, Ted Talks on it, even crystals dedicated to cultivating it. So what is mindfulness exactly, and why should we care?
My leg twitches nervously as I sit. The day I’ve been waiting for is here. Tomorrow I grade for my black belt in karate. (more…)
I was watching a TV show the other day, and on the show the main character was struggling with their job. They wanted to quit, citing a lack of motivation as their main reason. (more…)
