I admit it, I haven't started off the new year well. I didn't train at all this week.
I feel bad about that, since it doesn't exactly set a great level of motivation for the new year. I do have a good excuse though. The accumulated stress and running around from the wedding finally caught up -- it's a damn good excuse, if I do say so myself. I've been so short on sleep I could hardly formulate complete sentences. I've been stressed and unable to eat properly. I've barely been home. No one is really surprised that my bad back went into spasms on Saturday night, or that I came down with a cold two days later.
All the same, I like to start off a new year with renewed energy and dedication. I feel guilty that I'm not pushing harder, going to training and just taking it easy but at least establishing my presence in the dojo, and its presence in my life again. We didn't train for the last 2 weeks of December, so this is the longest I've gone without karate in who knows how long. I don't want to get lazy, to get out of the habit of going and challenging myself.
A lot of people set their "karate new year" as Kangeiko, and that is one of the purposes of Kangeiko. But my new year's resolution is to renew my energy as soon as possible, and not give myself permission to wait another week or two.
It's never too early, or too late, to remind yourself of what is important in your life, and make a commitment to it.
Forgive yourself! Wedding stress isn't an "excuse," it's a darn good REASON. After our wedding my wife, Karen, and I collapsed into a comatose state that took us almost a week to emerge from. It was almost a month before we could hear the word "plan" without running screaming into the woods.
Weddings are a great time, but they're an unbelievable amount of work and stress too; Karen is fond of saying that planning our wedding together was the best test of our marriage that we could make ;) It's only natural that you need to take a little time to recover. The dojo will still be there when you're ready to push yourself again.
Posted by: Derek | January 07, 2005 at 07:58 AM
I think you need to take a break and regroup. It sounds like your body is trying to scream at you to give it a break and you're just saying, "Nah, let's keep going." I think you're forgetting that you've just done one of the statistically most stressful things in your life by getting married. Congratulate yourself on getting it done and take a break.
Also, I don't think you should be putting extra pressure on yourself just because some calendar says it's a new year. It's just another month. Your body certainly isn't fresh and new just because it's a new year.
Listen to your body and your heart. (I had written mind too, but perhaps your mind is playing tricks on you this time...)
Posted by: Robert Kedoin | January 07, 2005 at 11:45 AM
I think you are in the right frame of mind. Now all you need is the right frame of body.
Rest and recover. Then worry about the rest.
Posted by: Wichi Dude | January 07, 2005 at 06:32 PM