I study martial arts in order to get better at life. I get better at life to be a better martial artist. How I carry myself when I fence is an expression of how I physically carry myself as a human being. This comes both through the physical strength I practice to carry myself with poise and confidence and the Read More …
My friends Sean and Kiara were standing at the alter in a beautiful church in New Westminster. I was standing just to the side of Sean, his best man, joyfully watching my friend take a beautiful woman as his wife. The priest was talking to all those assembled of love and the symbology of the ring he had just taken Read More …
Sometimes when I feel really afraid of something. Deep in the pit of me afraid. I take that fear and I go off into a room with it. I close the door and then I close my eyes. I dive down into that space where the knot is. Often it feels like it’s in my stomach but sometimes it’s in Read More …
When I look at my pursuit of mastery and proficiency in the various arts of my life I see more clearly now that truly a very small percentage of what is between me and mastery (meaning a high level of proficiency) is technical ability. Obviously technical ability is essential to mastery but the barriers that it presents are often most Read More …
“When others shine. I gain.” This is a shift I made in my own personal philosophy recently and it felt important to write more about it. I believe in choosing your philosophy. I feel that all transformation requires a shift at the deepest level. Your philosophical view of the world and then the strategy you embody based on that view. Read More …
Sometimes I struggle with jealousy. Not jealousy of a lover but jealousy over the successes of others. Sometimes I feel so small that when I look at someone else getting an awesome accolade for their achievements I say “Why not me? Why was I not noticed? Why have I not done enough to get noticed?”. When someone excels at what Read More …
I like to say that I come by my confidence honestly. I have never been meek but I have had a lot of challenges of self worth to work through. Every area where I stand strong now I’ve had to come through from a place of weakness. I have had a lot of luck on my side. I’m a tall, Read More …
Being grown up is not about having a serious and conservative view of the world. Nor is it about giving up being a child. Maturity is knowing when to be a child. When a co-worker gets on your nerves – this is the time to be an adult, express how you feel and seek resolution. When someone taunts you affectionately Read More …
Being critical of ourselves or others is a pretty common affliction. I say affliction as there are certainly places where we want to be critical and judge the merits of a particular action or interaction. However this type of behaviour often brings an emotional burden to it that shuts down communication both internally and externally. In an interaction between two Read More …
There are many things we may want to change about ourselves or our circumstances at any given moment but change must come through acceptance. When we rail against the strictures of our life they bind and become tighter, like trying to stretch a muscle while it’s tense. To make change you must first accept yourself as you are. And make Read More …