Assistance from Others

With only weeks into the year of the Ox,  the one thing that has become very evident is that I cannot do this journey alone.  A great example is my shoulder stretches and exercises, I was great at the beginning and then I let them slide.  I knew that I shouldn't but I did.  Some people are the kind that can set a goal in front of them and just do it.  I am always a great starter but once the initial result is obtained, something distracts me and I start on something else not completely finishing the first task.

I tried a few things to get back on track but they were not sustainable so when Ms Ward was talking about her knee stretches, I jumped at the chance to do it together.  We post back and forth and support each other.  It is so much easier to do them when you are held accountable to report your numbers to another person.  When I started to analyze this, it initially made me doubt myself, thinking that I need to do this by myself.  I need to just stick with the numbers and do it.  But that self doubt didn't feel right so I dug deeper and looked at my strengths and areas for improvement.  

Strengths include being encouraging, striving to be better each day, motivating others, problem solving, supporting others, being flexible (and after Ms Ferris' exercises this will be mentally and physically LOL) and caring about others.  My areas for improvement (formerly known as weaknesses but that gives them more power than they deserve) include procrastination, "best intentions", staying organized, unable to say no, distracted easily, and continually having too much on my plate.  At work I always tell my staff to "focus on your strengths so they overshadow your areas for improvement" so why can't I  use this in Kung Fu as well?  There is no reason not to, so I will be focusing more on my strengths as I continue on my journey.

Is it wrong to look for assistance from others?  I think it depends on the assistance that I am looking for.  I am not looking for anyone to do the work for me, I am looking for people that are heading in the same direction as me and joining them.  I will bring my strengths and they will bring theirs so we can compliment each other.  When I think of it this way, it just feels right.  My hope is that I can contribute to them as much as they are giving me.  I know there will be many people that will come and go on this journey and they will all leave something with me that will continue to mold me into the person that I want to be.  

See you on the mats!