Photo by Randy Tarampi on Unsplash
This is a guest post from Jana Scott Lindsay, an educator and learner in Saskatoon, Canada.
This is a cross-post from her blog, Driving Me to Think.
Why is it that we are often our own greatest obstacle to overcome?
I love being a dreamer. Of imagining a world of possibilities that will shape and guide me.
So then, what does it mean to dream big … I mean really?
I hear these words all the time… and yet I am not sure if I really understand what they mean. Or is it I don’t value enough my own desires to actualize them?
That is exactly what it was … until now.
This new year I have taken more than one step into uncharted territory.
Going back to school as a full time student after twenty years was no small feat. No small challenge but in many respects offered the incentive to really dream big.
I have long been looking for a passion that could rival both being a teacher as well as mother and wife. I knew that while I could utterly feel fulfilled in these roles I really felt I owed it to who I am to explore who I hope to become. Envisioning the future isn’t only for the young, but probably most especially, for the young at heart.
Here is where the footsteps of my quest have taken me…
I have found my passion in one of the most unlikeliest of places. I can’t give myself any more credit that the simple fact that I stumbled upon it. Hiding in the shadows of my existence, it has become a part of me without me even knowing it was happening. I have been immersed in this culture and life for years now, but only recently could I see it calling to me with fresh eyes. I know that to dream big is to follow in the direction I am being led.
My passion is the martial art of Muay Thai. The word Muay is derived from the Sanskrit Mavya which means “to bind together”. Those simple words completely encompass how I feel when I am training. I am bound to the learning in a way I never thought was possible. The confidence I feel is only matched by the competence I gain from each new training session. It consumes many of my waking thoughts and, for the first time, I revel in knowing that this learning is a part of who I am. It has empowered me as a learner and given me a focus that compliments every other aspect of my life. Muay Thai has been an amazing teacher … combining humility, assurance, skill, tenacity, and intelligence as part of the curriculum. My own teachers, each and every kru (sensei), continue to offer me the challenge I need to grow in my skill, understanding, and learning. Most importantly, they instil in me the confidence to continue on.
I have never looked back and now truly understand what passion and fire feels like as it burns inside of me. I know that my journey has only just begun … mastery may very well be a minute speck in the far distance, but with discipline and passion as my compass, I know I am headed in the right direction. Someday mastery might very well intersect my future.
“I fear not the man who has practiced 10,000 kicks once, but I fear the man who has practiced one kick 10,000 times.” ~Bruce Lee
And so continues my passion and desire to learn…
