Lately I have had my patience challenged severely. I admit there are times that it would be easier to be complacent and stop being engaged. Every day, and sometimes every minute I have to ask myself if I am doing what is right and being patient OR have I just accepted mediocrity and ignored what is happening around me.
This can also occur in our training because every day it is a fight to make sure I am engaged and giving my best. It easy to just go through the motions instead of really looking at what you are doing and why. I thought it would get easier as I advanced in the ranks but that has proven just the opposite. It is easy to fall back on the things we know and have done.
To me, this is mastery. It’s not “picking your battles” but mindfully trying to do your best. Accepting when you have slipped and trying to understand what caused it. Its knowing that you will be challenged and you will not always succeed but you learn more from those times if you let yourself. It's being able to become more proactive than reactive, and "let the experience be like the planting of seed within you - with nourishment, it will grow into your own individual mastery".
See you on the mats!
Jackie Kohut