Living In The Moment

I'm a huge Jason Mraz fan, not to the extent of obsessed but his music gives me happy feelings in my heart that's for sure. I'm sure you're already thinking, "What the heck does this have to do with Kenpo??" :) I'm getting there.

We opened the Academy nine months ago and it has been the greatest thing we've ever done. When at first you have something new in your life you can't help but be excited about it all the time. Then after awhile it just becomes routine, and you start to look towards the future. And with a business, the future can be scary. You start to think about the "what ifs"; What if we don't get any more new students, what if the students we have get bored and leave; what if we expect too much rank wise from our students and they leave because they feel like they're not getting anywhere? And they just keep snowballing and they get bigger and scarier.

This morning I was listening to Jason Mraz's new album LOVE (I highly recommend it by the way); and his song Living In The Moment came on. I was singing along with Jason when it hit me how applicable this song was to my life. I need to stop stressing about the future, it's not even here yet; and I need to let the past pass me by. I need to live right here in the moment, rather than be so focused on the future that I miss what's right in front of me. There's so much wonderful right here and now, we have so many students that are working their butts off and they love it. That is honestly the absolute best part, is every single student that steps onto that mat three times a week to let us share this Art with them. I love how excited they get when they learn something new. It melts my heart to see their faces when they receive a new stripe, or a new belt. Rank is not given, it is earned; and I'll be the first to tell you that karate is HARD. It honestly can be months in between stripes, it depends on the student. How much they practice, how much they remember, but when they earn their next rank you can bet they earned. :)

So, thanks to Jason Mraz I am now even more excited for the next karate class. I am so thankful for the students and parents that are now a part of my life. We've created a little Kenpo family, and it makes me so happy. Remember to live in the moment, appreciate what you have and set the example for others; you never know who's looking up to you.