Stream of Consciousness: Note to Self

I go back to what my friend told me. . .
He was talking about successful people. He was telling me about people who strive in the gym or people who train in Jiu-Jitsu. He said something that was obvious and simple yet, so poignant and true. He told me a black belt is actually a white belt that never gave up. This is a person who rolled through the same moves, over and over again, until the body knew what to do without the mind’s input. 

So, keep pushing is what he told me. 

There are always going to be the critics. There will always be stress and there will always be the unfortunate inescapable moments of trauma. This is what comes with life.
There will be times when life hurts. You will lose something that is very dear to you. You will find out that not everything (or everyone) is as they seem. You will find out that beliefs can be wrong and that thoughts are not always fact. Not everything we feel is accurate. Vision can be skewed and facts can be misinterpreted. Welcome to the great big world of misunderstandings.

Rest assured, there will be disagreements. There will be fights and arguments. There will be fights that happen and while in the middle of it all, there will be a presence of mind that occurs and asks, “What the hell am I fighting about?”
“I love this person!”
“So, why am I arguing?”

There will be someone out there whose job is to argue or pick us apart. And they’ll look to do this piece by piece. There will be people who look to shoot us down. They will do this as if this is their job. However, they can only thrive if we feed them.
So, don’t feed them.
Keep pushing.

There are going to be times when everything comes down to the buzzer. You’re behind on the scoreboard. Only a miracle can rally a comeback but at times like now, this is when we have to go into the miracle business.
We have to forget the scoreboard. We have to forget the opponent and the judges or the refs. We have to forget the people in the stands or the spectators. We have to forget about the outside distractions and focus on the task at hand. 

We cannot lose to ourselves. It’s fine to lose to an opponent.
It’s fine to take a shot and miss.
But keep pushing.

There are going to be moments when it seems as if everything is working fine. There will be times when it seems as if we have a clear shot at our goal. And we shoot and we go for the score; only to be blocked by the unexpected. This happens.

I go back to what my friend told me about grappling and martial arts. No opponent will ever allow you to submit them. No worthy opponent will let you impose yourself and for every move; they will look to counter.
The idea of mastering every move is to remove thought or worry. The body becomes fluid and moves without input: If this, then that or if that, then this. 
Life can be this way too. Life has a way of saying “No.” However, if something is worthwhile and important, our job is to find a new path.

The idea is to be so fluid-like that the body is uncatchable.
At least, this is my interpretation. 

We all have our own trick that we want to pull off. Some are simple. Some are difficult. But none of them can ever be pulled off without practice.
Nothing worthwhile is going to come easy.
So, make no mistake. Get used to the word “No,” but don’t accept this as your fate.
You have one job to do.
This is more than what you do to earn a living. Above all things, your job is to make it through the day. Do this to the best of your ability. Your job is to get through the day and before you hit the pillows, you come to a constructive conclusion. This way, you learn and you improve; but more importantly, the next day is prepped and ready as a new experience to use our skills. 

No different from training in Jiu-Jitsu. Our aim is to allow our bodies to pick up a science. This way, we can maneuver through the day with an “If this, then that” understanding. Keep moving. Keep pushing. Keep planning, endure, evolve and overcome. Never quit. Never stop practicing.
That is all.

Note to self:
Be unstoppable.
Keep pushing. You might not be a black belt (yet) but one thing is for sure, you never gave up. You put it out there. You gave this everything you had, repeatedly, all day, every day. You showed them.
So, keep pushing and don’t worry if no one else told you they’re proud. Don’t worry about them because I’m telling you now. I’m proud to stand in your shoes.
Know what that’s called?
That’s called growth.
That’s you; still growing

Unstoppably-