Different Seasons, Different Missions

Michael Hyatt recently wrote an article about retirement being a modern invention and dirty word. I agree with his views with one caveat. At different seasons in our life, it is time to let somethings go to make space for new things. To do new things well, we sometimes have to let go of the old.

When I was in my twenties, I was trying to finish my education as a non-traditional student and started martial arts. After I married Tam in 1996, I had to drop the martial arts because raising my family and finishing school took up most of my time.

En 2000, I started training in martial arts again with my daughter Caitlin. I finished up my college degree during which time my sons “Trey” and Caleb also joined us. I was still in my early thirties, so I was competing in about a tournament a month. Eventualment, Caity went society on us but “Trey” and Caleb continued training with me.

Durant 2005, I earned my first black belt and began instructing. I quit competing in 2008 and moved into teaching full-time. I enjoyed teaching but over the last two years the almost twenty years of martial arts training and thirty years of weight training began to take their toll. As I sit here writing this article, I have an icepack on my neck and left knee.

While I cannot forsee retiring from the martial arts, I no longer train like a competitor. I focus on longevity and being able to train as I one day enter my sixties and seventies.

In each season of life during my martial arts career, I had a mission. Originalment, it was to learn as much as possible and compete. In the next season, I was still competing but I was learning how to teach. I transitioned into teaching at both my instructor’s and my school before preparing for the new season as a senior instructor. If I had tried to stay as a competitor and part-time teacher, I would never have progressed nor made the contribution that I should.

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