Not Always That Easy

Sometimes the tasks that you believe to be the easiest, turn out out to be the toughest once actually set in to motion.

     This year has been full of change so far. Over the Christmas break we moved in to town from an acreage, huge change. I have moved from the beginner class, at 6:30, to the intermediate class, at 8:30, another big change. And the most recent of changes, beginning my journey with the I Ho Chuan team.
     For a little history, about a year and a half ago I received my Green Belt in Six Sigma. I love  change. Having the ability to monitor progress, alter the process and increase productivity. These are the things that I strive for every day and have lots of fun doing it. I know from having to deal with my employees everyday that not everyone feels the same and it is always good to have a little conflict to ensure that everyone is kept in check. 
     The first week has been great. I have managed to alter my routine enough in this short period to handle the physical requirements. Initially I was concerned that the physical portion added to what I was already doing was going to be too much. Oddly enough on Friday, generally my hardest, I was out of bed as soon as the alarm went off. Sounds easy enough but mine goes off at 3:30am and it is off to the gym for me.
     I remember talking to Sifu Brinker about the requirements. The one that was the most concerning at the time was the 1609km. I have been in the fitness class for a while and feared the days that we were going running. 4km a day how is that even possible? After a few discussions with people who were currently in the I Ho Chuan, I felt a little better about this requirement but it was gnawing at me a little. For Christmas I received a Fitbit and all of these concerns melted away. It seems that on a regular day I travel about 4.5 miles, one less distraction.
     On the other hand there were requirements that I didn't even think twice about. Acts of kindness, I do lots of things every day. Or at least I thought I did. Up until Thursday morning my AOK column was just about blank. Am I really that bad of a person? Haven't I managed to alter a single moment with a kind act? Until this point I had believed fairly strongly that for the most part I had put other peoples needs before my own. Surely there must be something, my mind was drawing blanks. Thursday morning was the same as others. I woke up, made scrambled egg whites, sat at the table to eat phone in hand. Another change that I had made, which seemed somewhat insignificant was to alter the content in the morning. Instead of Facebook, it is now reading I Ho Chaun blogs and then through some random blogs from others or a pod cast or two. The pod casts are handy and lend themselves well to the treadmill. 
     On Thursday I stumbled across a post about a trucker who came across a presumably drunk person swerving from lane to lane on the highway. As he approached the car he noticed an elderly man shaking behind the wheel. The truck driver noticed that the car had a two way antenna and started trying to reach the other driver on the radio. He asked the man to pull over and to his surprise the car pulled over to the side of the road immediately. The trucker stopped behind the car, he then exited the truck and walked up to the drive side of the car. He talked with the older gentleman for a few minutes and learned that he had just come from the hospital where doctors had told him that they would be removing his daughter from life support that night..... as the first tear rolled off of the end of my nose in to my egg whites, I realised that there was probably some compassion in there somewhere... The truck driver followed the man to his exit talking to him constantly on the radio. As he said good bye he heard another driver comment that he would continue following him. 
     With all of the negativity that gets promoted in the media, it is sometimes hard to see all of the good things that are happening. Even if those things are directly in front of you. I think that it more important now than ever to find the good and promote it as much as possible. Sometimes the slightest shift in perspective is all that it takes to be able to recognise not only the good that is happening around you but the impact that you personally have on it.