1. The good is about my daughter! For the past few months since she's
moved up a level in TaeKwonDo, she's been quite unhappy/discouraged with
class. She's by far the smallest, one of the youngest, and one of the
few girls in there. She's a tough kid, but it automatically intimidated her. Plus, the class
moves at a much faster pace, and what was always somewhat simple for her
suddenly became challenging. We went through WEEKS of her flipping out
when we'd get there, refusing to do anything but sit on the side of the
mat and make rude faces. So totally unlike her! But we knew it was because she's never actually been challenged in her life, and we worked with the amazing instructors to show patience and understanding. BUT we didn't stop taking her. We were finally about to give up, though. We had all been sick, our contract runs out in a month, and we were fairly sure she'd be happy to just let it go. Until last Monday. She showed up to class for the first time in a week, and she was renewed! She improved so much over the past week and a half, that she's actually testing for her next belt next week!! And not only that, she LOVES it again. She got over the hurdles that were challenging her, and she said that she plans on continuing to do so for every new belt. She knows that it will get harder with each test, and she seems to understand now. I'm hoping that she'll keep this sort of perseverance into the new challenges, but there's only one way to find out!
2. So after that happy lot, here's the bad. Back story--in September when my father got sick, I went to visit him. It was really stressful and fairly hot out there in SoCal. So I needed lots of caffeine, and I couldn't stand drinking those ultra-fattening frappucinos or hot coffee. My confession is that I went back to drinking diet soda. And I never stopped. I know that I detoxed from it in the summer and was doing really well, but this bit of stress hit me hard and I don't have a lot of vices. So I took the one really bad thing that I do to myself, and I went with it out of frustration. I've recently started working pretty hard to wean back off of it again. I've been back on my morning protein shakes with some espresso in them, and in the afternoon I try to have either an almond milk latte or a hot tea, or skip the caffeine all together. It's actually going fairly well, but don't be surprised if I get a tad bit bitchy at times. (On a happier note, my father is still in the hospital but making forward steps daily!)
3. The ugly is my yoga practice, fo sho'. I finally went back to my Power Yoga class today, after a long time off. When I was going regularly, I felt so balanced and strong. But since we've all had a major case of the grossness, I've not only missed that class but most of my other workouts too. It's left me feeling quite off-centered and weak. The class started off rough, as I rushed in late because the boy threw an insane fit this morning. I got ready messily but quietly and tried to focus. I never set my "intention" for the practice, I unfortunately missed that part. And I could tell. She focused on balance today with tons of one-legged poses. It was an eye opener to how imbalanced I've become! I was all over the place, and it was so hard to focus and not just give up in embarrassment. But I made it through, and I felt better by the end. I almost walked out of the class twice, and nearly cried once. But dammit, I'll be back next week and hopefully a bit stronger physically and emotionally by every class. If my daughter can persevere, so can I! Now, off to practice some Warrior III and Dancer poses....
Don't forget, go to enter my Pay It Forward Giveaways! You can enter through next Tuesday, and I'll draw FOUR lucky winners on Wednesday morning. Go win something!!!
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