Wednesday, October 15, 2008

Leave It At The Door

I had a really bad day today. I was miserable. I had to deal with one problem after another. I finished working at 5:00 and had one hour before I was needed on the dojo floor. During my drive home I was wishing that I did not have to teach tonight. All I wanted to do was go home, rest and continue to be miserable.

I did not have time to rest or decompress...I had to leave my rotten day at the door. The moment I crossed through the door from the house to the dojo it was instant...my bad day was left behind.

What a wonderful gift of the martial arts!!!

9 comments:

Steve said...

You have a gift then, my friend! How do you turn it on mentally and leave "it" outside? For me, it's usually a gradual dialing down ... I can't find the switch!

Slop -n- Goulash: Dinner of Champions! said...

Michele - I know EXACTLY how you feel. I am just get acclimated to this new job and it's all NEW and very stressful. I really don't feel like going tonight, but I know that once I do, and I'm there, I will be oh-so-glad I did. For the 3 hours I'm there, I turn off everything else. And Steve is right - it is a gift. But you know what - it's a gift that really is given to me - nothing I do makes it happen - the switch just flips as soon as I bow in to the dojo.

Michele said...

Thank you for your comments.

Steve: I think that I am able to leave it outside the dojo door because there are people on the other side who are counting on me to be at my best.

MAM: I agree with you ... it is a gift that is given.

Anonymous said...

Michele, I feel the same way when I go into the dojang. Often I am really conflicted about wanting to go, but as soon as I'm in the door, I'm ready to be in class and can't wait to get started.

I think a big part of it for me is that it is my outlet for stress and I do much better with it than without it.

Bob M said...

Hi, Michele,

Thanks for the reminder of the stress and mental sanity benefits of martial arts!

Michele said...

Minivanninja: It is a great outlet for stress. When I don't feel like going to class, I almost always do because I know that I will feel better after a workout.

Bob: Good hearing from you! I hope all is well with you and your knee.

Anonymous said...

:) Its good to hear others go through the same difficulties from time to time. Its normally always better once we are there.

Colin Wee said...

A couple of years ago we engaged a few garden designers to look at improving our backyard. One thing I wanted to build was an outdoor dojo. One of the designers was a Japanese who also practice kendo - and he said that typically an outdoor dojo should come with some steps leading up to it so that when one 'journeys' to the dojo, the path itself helps put the person into a different mindset. A mindset which the person must be ready to adopt of course. Wonderful that you recognise this necessity. :-) Colin

Michele said...

Adam: "Its normally always better once we are there." So true.

Colin: I love the imagery of the "journey". Thank you for sharing this story.