TIMELY INSPIRATION

Chinese New Year is great for alot of things. The time off work is excellent. Dinners with friends and family are always fun. So it's not that I have anything against the occasion, except when it comes to my training.

The gym was closed from last wednesday and today will be our first day back in action. My training casualty count thus stands at: 2 boxing classes, 3 conditioning classes and the ones that really get me, 1 BJJ class AND an open mat session.

My fiancee was visitng her family for the holidays so I was left to my own devices. And OH, what fun and exciting devices they were indeed. I cleaned the house - yes I swept the floor - I played a few board games with friends and there was a lot of World of Warcraft thrown in for good measure.

When I finally dragged myself into the office today I was feeling thoroughly apathetic. Inertia had taken what seemed like a reverse triangle on me, and I could feel my knees being pulled steadily into my chest. What's worse, I knew I should be trying to kick my legs out and roll to my stomach...but in a way I couldn't be bothered.

Basically, I was feeling pretty blah and just generally uninspired. I wasn't even going to write this blog until I read a post on John Will's blog (link in the sidebar on the right) which I will cross-post in part:

The Springtime Squirrel

The old ‘financial planning’ model is based on the premise that you dislike your work and one day you will ‘retire’, put your feet up, and live your life by drawing a pension from the nest-egg that you have spent forty odd years building up.
I can tell you one thing for certain – it is far more important to find a way of making a living that you really enjoy than it is to grit your teeth and keep doing something you dislike just so you can ‘live large’ when you turn 60.

...

We all need money to live the way we want and do the things we want – no doubt about that. But don’t give up the ‘now’ so that you can ‘live the life’ when you turn sixty. Live it all the way – be passionate about what you do – invest in super, be smart, read good books, talk to successful people – but LIVE NOW! Love the whole journey – and never stop.

When I read that it was an instant reminder of every last reason I have for training. All my plans for opening my own place are based around this exact line of thought. I'm excited by what the future holds - and I'm also pretty fired up for tonight's class.