Where I'm Supposed to Be

I didn’t mean for so much time to pass between posting but life and laziness happens, of course. When I started this thing it was to counter my fears of writing in public. It was also to make me write more because I’ve had several people tell me in my life that I should write more. With apologies to President Dubya, I’d think the whole experience has been Mission Accomplished! I posted 30+ times in a year on the blog, which is good.

I’d like to think that largely due to this I stepped up and volunteered to write Facebook and Twitter writeups for the podcast I’m a part of, the Longbox Crusade. I noticed that the main man and DJ, Pat, used the same or similar write-ups for our podcasts once they came out. It was my idea to take over for those write-ups; I wanted the hard work that he does and that the boys put into the show to stand out! My humble part in that is the write-up. End result of that would be positive feedback from the write-ups and as is normally the case, more work! I now run the Instagram page for the Longbox Crusade and post the write ups from there. We also just started a patreon page that I wrote a few things for and will be writing the opening of the quarterly newsletter. It’s safe to say I have found a good place for my creative outlet. No end goal in mind other than to put smiles on people’s faces and I’m perfectly ok with that being the case.

Jiu-jitsu is plugging along, still. I’m learning to find the beauty in the grind and I know that means I’m gaining a deeper level of understanding in the art. Everything is really Zen; one of my training partners, Nick, said simply “you are where you’re supposed to be.” He’s right and it’s very helpful in staying grounded as I slowly grow into my body and skills. It’s very helpful in seeing people from afar gaining accolades and achievements while I gain seemingly very few. I’m not in it for the accolades. I’m in it to learn. I am where I’m supposed to be.

I try to remember that in my overall fitness as well. I set a goal of 235lbs that I’ve never reached. I came within .8 lbs of making that goal. Grrrrr. I’ve done well with staying within 8lbs of the target though, which makes me happy because I started the journey about 25-30 lbs heavier than what I am now. I also know the weight goal is really just a number. The overall goal is to find that sweet spot of being an effective jiu-jitsu artist but also being a healthy weight for a middle aged big guy. I want to be around for decades to come. I have work to do. I realize, even when typing this that there are other realms in my life that I haven’t covered. My wife. My finances. My political viewpoints. My family back home. My job. There are a lot of things in my life I want to improve. There are a lot of things I want to improve to be in a position to help others improve. But for now? I am where I’m supposed to be