Change...

Change… it truly is something you can count on.  It is sought after by some and fought against by others.  Although it is continuous, it is our choice and in our control as to how we react to it.  2014 was a tough year for me.  It was a roller coaster year with more time spent at the bottom of the tracks.  I have found myself surrounded with people and circumstances that have truly tested my faith and patience in every way possible.  I have tried to control things that weren’t mine to control and at other times felt defeated and too tired to take charge and change things that I was capable of.  I have found myself influenced way too much by what the world and society says, and have been guilty of ignoring what I know from my faith and life experience to be true. 

So what have I learned? 

1.)    Allowing the worries and concerns consume my life and neglecting seeing the blessings will ultimately destroy me.  I truly believe that stress is the number one killer of relationships and health in today’s society.  When it’s allowed to take over it will leave a path of destruction.

2.)    Hold onto and trust in my faith.  Although people are going to be put in my path who are more than trying and I am going to be tested with numerous circumstances that I would rather run from, there is a purpose for it all that in some way will lead to something greater than I could have ever put together on my own.

3.)    Enjoy life.  Life is short and full of the unexpected.  I need to take more advantage of the moments that matter and let go of those that don’t.

4.)    Remember to do things for myself that bring me joy and peace.  Although I may find myself pulled in a million different directions at times, I need to give myself a break, not feel guilty and take time for me. 

To wake up today and say I have this all figured out and that everything is going to be 100% on track from this time on, would be unrealistic.  It took time to get to this spot; it’s going to take time to get out of it.  So what am I doing?  I have started a new log book for the year 2015.  One of the I Ho Chuan requirements of logging (kms, pushups, situps, forms, RAK’s etc.)  that I had incorporated into part of every day, I allowed to slide in the beginning of September.  Even though I was not part of the team this past year, I had continued my logging.  Then one day company comes for lunch, the log book gets taken off the counter and out of sight, out of mind. Shortly before that I had let my journaling slide. The rest of my year was sketchy to say the least.  Not that I wasn’t continuing my workouts, just not to the same degree and without any accountability.  So my new log book is now back on my kitchen counter and being faithfully filled. 

I have also got my butt back into our garage.  It’s not the kwoon, but is what I can make work at this time.  I’m not only spending walks/runs outside but have added km’s on the treadmill (not as enjoyable but definitely warmer).  I have spent more time on our mats stretching, push ups (as much as my shoulder allows), sit ups and forms.  I have spent time with the kicking bag, although it’s not with quite the same gusto as when Sifu Frietag would have music blaring and yelling out combinations.  My music and yelling at myself doesn’t offer quite the same drive (loved those classes!).  These moments have helped me realize the role of and how important the kwoon and the people that fill it are in my training.  There is an added motivation and drive that I can’t quite get on my own.

And lastly, I have started a gratitude journal.  This past October I realized how easily I was being drug towards the negative and was failing to see the positive in many things around me.  With a book for each of us, my family and I started writing about at least one thing every day that was positive and that we were grateful for.  Really, how hard should that be?  In a society that has so much to be thankful for, how could I not fill a book every day?  Unfortunately, when you find yourself in a hole, it’s harder than you think.  I admire my 17 year old who has totally grabbed onto this and every night faithfully has written in his book.  He hasn’t just written down one word or one sentence (‘hit all green lights on the way to work today’), he has given tremendous thought and time into each page.  Thanks for the inspiration Brandon!  As small as this book might seem to some, it has been really good for changing the direction of my thoughts.  It makes me truly put aside for a moment the garbage going on around me and be able to see a bigger picture, one that has potential.  All part of the journeyJ

Alana Regier

http://alanaregier.blogspot.ca