Writing

Blogging, like most of our mastery requirements, has several benefits. It gives you an outlet to express yourself to the world, it allows team members to better know you and it develops your writing skill.

I was reading through some of my first posts and found a profound difference between now and then in my vocabulary and sentence structure. The more you write, the better you become.

This is true, but if you make a conscious effort to look back and figure out why some approaches worked and others didn't, you will improve much more swiftly.

This theory is applicable to everything in life. If you go back and improve on what you already know, the quality of your knowledge and skill will be much higher.

I will continue to blog, long after my time with the I Ho Chuan comes to an end. It keeps me engaged, it keeps me focused.

Repetition and Habit

Lately I have had the sensation of being pushed by a wave in an ocean. I feel like my day to day activities are just flowing nicely. My ability to complete requirements, I Ho Chuan related or not, is surpassing second nature and is just becoming natural in my way of life. The process is starting to become sustainable for me. I am thinking less consciously about what I need to do and just doing it instead. Busy or not, things are getting done and my confidence is at an all time high. 

I sometimes look inward in an attempt to find the reason why everything seems easier now. Am I making the illusion that it's easier and just not trying as hard? Unlikely, I am not that kind of person. I am one of those people who beats themselves up mentally for not doing everything they can to achieve something, at least I was. Since joining the I Ho Chuan team almost 3 years ago, this has lessened greatly. Instead of having negative thoughts about what I didn't do, my mind is generating more thoughts about what I can do next time to create a better outcome.

So why then has it become easier? At the moment I believe it is due to repetition and habitual thinking. If you repeat something over and over again, striving to make each time the best you ever have, eventually it becomes easier. Furthermore, since you repeated it so many times it just becomes a part of your life, a habit, something that takes no conscious effort to accomplish. 

I am really excited about where I am right now mentally. I am just going to keep riding this wave of momentum and see where it takes me.

Take care everyone.

Always More

I like asking questions. Asking questions opens doors we didn't even know existed. At the end of class we are typically prompted to ask questions and often there are none, maybe one or two. I am just as guilty as anyone else with regards to this. I know I have questions, there are always more questions. However when it comes time to ask, I have nothing.

There is always something else to know. It was mentioned that so much of what we learn is watered down from generation to generation because we don't ask enough questions. Think of all the opportunities we lose simply because we are too afraid to ask.

This week I am dedicated to always thinking of something to ask. Whether I am at home, work and especially at the kwoon. I'm making it my mission to ask more and assume less. It is too early to say if I have made any real progress, but if I stay consistent with this, I'm sure it will be to my benefit.

Be curious, people! There is so much to learn and so little time to learn it! After all, if you don't have any questions, are you truly mindful and engaged in where you are and what your doing?

Brush Stroke

The reno week this year was successful. The ceiling is freshly painted, the pads for the bike racks poured and the trees have been planted. The 2nd annual potato bake was great! Even with tasks needing to be done, we each had a chance to enjoy some time together and stuff our faces. I am happy to have contributed to this reno as opposed to last year. It really does give you a deeper connection to the school. It further distinguishes it from being "just another place to work out". 

Due to my awesome shoulder rolling skills, I was not able to help with the outside projects and was limited to painting inside. Although this work was above my head, it was not as heavy as working with garden tools or moving dirt. I managed to make myself useful and it probably helped with the mobility of my shoulder anyway.

I really did enjoy painting the ceiling. I was tasked with "cutting" the edges of the ceiling and around the lights. This took full focus and attention as I did not want to paint the wall or the lights. There was something almost soothing about having a task so simple yet delicate as this one. It reminded me fully engage myself in everything I do. No matter how simple something seems, you need to pay attention to what you're doing to do it properly.