Learning

It's been about 2 months (hard to believe) into my 6 month personal training journey, and man, it's been one of the most enlightening experiences of my life.  Talk about on-the-job, on-the-spot, on-the-fly learning.  I'm applying things I learn instantaneously to prospective clients, and folks I'm currently working with, and of course, to my own body and mind.

I've been working out for the past 30+ years, and I'm telling you, for the most part, I was doing everything wrong, backwards, inefficiently, without any scientific backing, without any fundamental knowledge.  Certainly, like any other field, things progress quickly, theories change and such.  And the state-of-the-art certainly is dynamic, especially with all of the advances in science and technology, research and development.

My teacher, who I tend to bother a lot just because of my undying thirst for knowledge, mentioned the following to me:

"Listen to my words of wisdom, and you'll never plateau..."

That stuck to me, because as I mentioned, in 30+ years of working out, I think I hit every plateau (both good and bad mind you) that an athlete (or wanna-be athlete) could hit.

I'm so grateful for this opportunity, so thankful this turn in my life happened, that I could learn and associate with the good people at my new school.  We see each other often, we're quite a tight group, and I know we'll spend lots of time post-graduation together, making a difference in other people's lives.

As I look back at my blog over the past 3 years, I've seen myself grow as a person, try different things, have strong opinions about others.  I see a kid just 3 years ago, with a newly found passion for certain things, some of them quite noble (like Veganism, etc.).  And I see a lot of learning that has happened in the time since.  I am grateful, even for that time, because it has shaped me, it has made me a better student and trainer having experienced and gone through all of that.  It's my life's full experience that I bring with me, into my new possible career path, and that's what makes the difference between having passion, and simply existing.

I pray for you, my friend, that you may find something in learning that will light a fire in your heart and soul, to carry you past all of your indecision and hardship, to push you forward to places you didn't think you could make it to, to never plateau.

Leaving

I've thought about my life a lot the past several weeks, deep rooted heavy thoughts.  What came out of all of that wrangling and hassle was something quite beautiful, something very simple and easy.  If my life ended right now, I would have a lived a full, happy, and blessed life.  It doesn't matter that I experienced hardships, sorrow, pain, disappointment, or whatever shred of negative energy you could throw my way.  I guess we all have that.  But, I experienced God, love, children, family, friendship, travel, success, and all of the other things that life had to offer.  Not sure if any of them mattered more than the other, just feel so blessed to even have a moment of it, to smile for a minute, to laugh for a minute, to cheer for a minute.  It was full, not sad.  It was complete, not unfinished.

I'm heading into some unknown territory health-wise, and being the logical person I am, I have taken as much precaution as possible, getting my things in order in case something catastrophic happens.  I am at peace knowing that everyone will be okay.  Now, the likelihood that anything at all will happen is extremely super-low, likely I'll be fine and live to see the next day, year, decade, etc.  But, just realizing there "could be" an end, makes you feel differently about things.

When my dad passed away nearly 16+ years ago, I was forever changed.  I didn't look at anything the same.  And I guess I may have forgotten that feeling as I've grown up since.  Something these last couple of months swayed me back into that mindset, to tell me to let go, and live life with passion and joy again, and not be held down by negative emotions or energy.  I'm glad I've rediscovered myself through this process, because what I found was the man I knew was always there, one with an open heart and soul, one that is a gift to others.

I am so happy now, and I have lots of people to thank.  My God, my family, my kids, my friends, and everyone else that has helped or touched me these past few years.  To be honest, I've been under a lot of stresses and things that were extremely difficult to cope with, things I didn't even have a clue how to work through.  But, now I'm at peace, happy with everything, just the way it is, no matter what it is, what state it's in, or it's intentions.  I'm at peace because I have been truly blessed to live my life, and I will continue to live it this way forever.