Fall

It's really feeling like fall these last few weeks. I'm not a winter lover so this time of year makes me dread winter but I still can't help but love fall for itself. I like my autumn garden- harvesting and doing all the canning and pickling, although sometimes the overabundance of vegetables needing something done with them can be overwhelming- I have over a hundred pounds of tomatoes in my house right now! Really can't complain about that though when there are food shortages around the world.

I feel like a broke through a wall with my cane these last couple of months. I am not a creative person and I have struggled to come up with a form to showcase this weapon. I think what finally happened was I just started playing with it, twirling it around, hitting stuff- I don't know, it just worked. I really like the cane as it is practical so I'm glad this is finally coming together. Dragon dance is fun as always. I like working on the new stuff, even if it's a little scary sometimes, but I do feel bad for Sifu Wetter having to carry me around on his shoulders PLUS the dragon head!

Fun week at work so far also- an injured hawk was brought in and we did radiographs for the wildlife rescue group, really cool.

4th draft

I've been thinking a lot about the I Ho Chuan year and some of the conversations we've been having after class- and of course Sihing Lowry leaving kung fu, (hopefully just temporarily). I wrote at least 3 different blog posts and deleted them all, they ended up just being my opinion on the subject of sacrifices, what it takes etc, basically a lot of blah blah blah. We are all different in our own ways and we will each have our own unique highs and lows through this year. I hope though, that we can utilize the fact that in some ways we are all the same, we are all struggling at times no matter how it may seem on the outside. It is easy to feel alone and frustrated, I know we all want to keep things positive but sometimes just being able to talk to someone about having a crap day makes all the difference. So if you ever want to talk about your crap day (or your awesome day) I'd love to listen.

Heart

Someone I know posted a video with this commentary on it, It is geared towards a competitor, but I felt like it has relevance for a lot of us in what we do, or anything your trying to accomplish in life. I can't think of anyone who hasn't felt beaten and knocked around by life a few times. The best accomplishments in life are the ones that we struggled to finish or the ones we thought there was no way we could do and then doing it. Anyway, it spoke to me.

"Here's the thing that makes life so interesting. The theory of evolution claims only the strong shall survive. Maybe so, maybe so. But the Theory of Competition says just because they're the strong doesn't mean they can't get their butts kicked. That's right. See, what every long shot, come- from- behind underdog will tell you is this: The other guy may, in fact,be the favorite, the odds may be stacked against you. Fair enough. But what the odds don't know is this isn't a math test. This is a completely different kind of test. One where passion has a funny way of trumping logic. So, before you step up to the starting line, before the whistle blows, and the clock starts ticking, just remember out here, the results don't always add up. No matter what the stats may say, and the experts may think, and the commentators may have predicted, when the race is on, all bets are off. Don't be surprised if somebody decides to flip the script and take a pass on yelling "uncle!" And then suddenly as the old saying goes, "We got ourselves a game.""