The Learning Curve

Sometimes it's easy to give up on new things before giving them proper chance. People don't like feeling uncomfortable, out of their element, unsure, vulnerable or weak. No one likes the feeling you get when you are standing there and everyone is watching you, waiting, because you can't seem to grasp what they can so easily do. No one likes the feeling you get when what you're doing goes against everything you've ever known, how you've been programmed, so much so that you cannot figure out how to adapt to it, how to change, how to just let it wash over you as you go with it.

I'll let you in on what it's taken me a lifetime to learn, and what I still struggle with daily; it's not alway about trying or forcing. Sometimes it's about allowing. You have to allow yourself that time to learn. You have to allow yourself the opportunity to make mistakes and the opportunity to work through them. You have to allow yourself to be patient. You have to allow yourself the chance to adapt. You have to allow yourself to be open. You have to allow yourself to be free.

On that first day, when you watch someone else demonstrating, it looks easy enough. But then when you try yourself? Not easy. It's our fear that makes us hesitate. Nothing else. It's not that hard, per se. It's just new. It's not about being an expert at one thing. It's not about being able to run the fatest, lift the most, kick the hardest, punch the fastest, or stretch the deepest. It's about being a jack of all trades, and attempting to master a few of them. It's about being able to perform well at all tasks, not expertly at one. It's about learning to respond and react to everything that can be present to us. It's not just about working out, it's about being fit. It's not about martial arts classes, it's about being a martial artist.