diary

Last week my son and I received our blue belts (8th kyu) in karate - Kanreikai, derived from Kyokushinkai. The test was very challenging to me, and I could see my son really trying to do his best, genuinely concerned with the outcome of the test. Around the same time my daughter conquered 2 techniques in her gymnastics classes with which she struggled for months before. That was a week of small but serious victories for us.

This week Kira was born to us, and she is a lot of joy to us all. Our oldest daughter N is very happy to have a baby sister and now opts to stay home instead of spending time with favorite friends, because she wants to be next to Kira as much as possible, sometimes holding the baby in her hands and beaming with joy. :)

And my son - well, he's a boy: he has his things and games to do, too busy to concentrate on a baby (who only eats and sleeps) for too long. :) And he also likes listening to T-Rex, The Knife and Einstürzende Neubauten.

concentrate on the current step

Yesterday, after the (karate) class, our hanshi (head teacher, the dojo's owner) talked to us a bit about pushing forward when it's difficult. We had an endurance class and that included a few very intensive rounds when everyone comes to the point of failure - but has to keep going. He said we shouldn't allow ourselves to think of the body, of how tired we are, of how far the goal is. Don't look at the far goal all the time, he said. If you're walking up the mountain to the summit, don't look at the top, especially when you're tired - it's so far, it'll discourage you and you won't go/get there. Instead, make the steps, one after another, concentrate on the current step - and that way you'll get there. Don't look back either, as that may bring memories of past failures - and they don't matter, what matters is what you do now. What might also help is thinking of the next activity that is exciting, or of a reward awaiting us after we've done this current tough part. He learned it from the Japanese culture and his teacher during his decades in karate.

This life is tough at times, and we all have to be warriors deep inside to survive and succeed at our responsibilities along the way.