I am on a journey in karate to get a black belt. It is a looooooong journey and there have been many obstacles. Injuries, time commitment, exhaustion, fear…to name a few. Luckily it is something that I do enjoy and that does empower me in many ways.
I recently got a groin muscle injury just from doing the warm up running exercises. (Who knew you needed those…-LOL). Anyway, it happened in a class right at the beginning of class. I had a private lesson right afterwards. I really wanted to stay but we were doing some pretty energetic work outs to get warmed up. I am already nursing a shoulder injury from last December, a tennis elbow injury (from painting my kitchen cabinets-all 40 of them) and bad knees just in general.
My initial instinct was just to give up. Literally, go home in the middle of class. My thought were, “I am so done”, ‘I’m tired of injuries”, “This sucks”… to name a few of the 64,000 thoughts per second that the human brain cycles through and no, that is NOT a typo!
Then I took a break. I went to the restroom in the middle of class. I took a time out. I put some water on my face and changed my self talk. “I love this sport”. “I will only do what feels comfortable to me”. “I can always leave and give myself permission to do so, if it hurts.” Then I went back out and joined the class. I even stayed for my private lesson.
It was the BEST decision. I honored where I was at that moment, made a choice to do only what I felt comfortable with (and gave myself permission to do so), and changed my self talk. I wound up talking to my instructor during my private class, who really helped me see the journey to black belt in a different light. It rejuvenated me and invigorated me and helped me to reframe my focus and bring it back down to why I do this in the first place.
Sometimes talking to an objective person when hardships or changes in life occur, can really help bring that perspective back that I cannot see on my own. It is another tool of the several, that I mentioned in this post, that really can make a difference in your life.
If you or someone you know is struggling in any way with wanting to move forward in life, share this story and/or give me a call today, at my San Diego therapy office to set up your coaching counseling appointment and get that objective point of view to help you to reach your goals! 619-687-9013