Hi, and welcome back to Second Chance to Live. In the 3rd and final installment of this series I want to talk about the basics. The training camp provides the instruction to enable the individual to make significant gains. Apart from the basics, there can be no foundation to build upon. Basics enable the participant of the camp to grow in their skills and abilities. The training camp is designed to inspire the individual to achieve and excel beyond their present capabilities. Courage inspires the individual to expand upon their creative capacities.
I believe that life provides many training camp opportunities. You and I do not have to pay a fee or go to some remote location to find a training camp. Our circumstances and the opportunities that we are given design our training camps. Your training camps may be different than my training camps. Our willingness to learn from those training camps will determine our quality of living. Our circumstances are not meant to keep us down but to build us up. My invisible disability has given me challenging, but marvelous training camps. Some of those training camps have provided endurance, some have taught me, and don’t do that again while others have provided other unique lessons. I have found that some training camps provide multiple lessons.
When I began training in mixed martial arts and boxing my appreciation for the basics was limited. I had no idea how important the basics would be on my journey to becoming a better martial artist. Executing proper technique became the essential ingredient. I learned that proper technique was a combination of the knowing and executing the basics. I also learned that apart from repeated practice I could not hope to become a master of the basics. Detail and repetition became the cornerstones of all my training. Detail provided the instruction and repetition created muscle memory and resilience. As I have stayed committed to the process of working on the basics, I have progressed in my capabilities as a martial artist.
My journey as a martial artist has provided an ongoing training camp where I have executed commitment, determination, fortitude and courage. Although the process has not progressed (at times) as quickly as I had hoped, I am glad that stayed committed to the process. I have learned some very valuable lessons as a martial artist. The journey becomes the joy not the destination. The process is enhanced by the tedium. The product of the process becomes excellence. Efficiency and effectiveness becomes manifest through dedication to the basics. For without the basics, I could never hope to execute the technique. I have been a brown belt for a year and a half and I am currently training towards my black belt in mixed martial arts and boxing. My Sensei’s, Sifu’s original Sensei was Bruce Lee.
Courage involves staying in our training camps even when we would rather not learn the lesson. Courage that has said its prayers involves trusting the process, trusting God and trusting ourselves. Each training camp prepares us to fulfill part of our destinies. When we refuse to learn from the training camp that life has given us, we may be missing out on a valuable lesson. Courage provides comfort in the training camp, even when we don’t understand. When we chose to stay committed to the process — learning from the training camps — life becomes an adventure. Be encouraged. Your training camps may provide a specific piece of the puzzle that you have been seeking. So don’t give up on your process. You will get what you need.
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