thelawofdharma

Today I woke up late, went to get my hair done and then spent a wonderful afternoon and evening with extended family celebrating round 2 of Christmas.

Now while I didn’t do any training or prep for my move, I did a lot of thinking. This morning, while sitting in my stylist’s chair, I finally had the chance to read the copy of my training log that Alan had been keeping and gave me as one of my Christmas presents. I was so impressed by the detail of the log and moved by Alan’s boxing/life observations. Reading it also caused a couple of uncontrollable cackle bursts; I’m pretty sure the other clients at Madison’s Spa weren’t that impressed when I shattered the tranquil spa atmosphere.

In a way, Alan has been like my “real-life” Deepak Chopra; a much edgier and, I’m guessing, a much funnier version of Mr. Chopra, but nonetheless, someone from whom I have learnt a tremendous amount.

Here are a few of Alan’s observations from my training log that really resonated with me and caused a lot of the thinking that went down today:

“she thinks too much and is much too hard on herself in a year she can be angry until then chillax and plod away for the longest journey begins with the smallest of steps”

“(she) must move like a meth addict and throw punches continuously that is a good defence a crazy offence”

“she’s letting me smack her around and not complaining darn she could be a boxer”

“(she’s) looking good still less thinking more punching/moving like a boxer needs to keep right elbow down when throwing she blames her boob I blame her switching to orthodox”

So after a full day of these words working the mats of my brain, here are the boxing / life lessons that I will (as Alan would say) add to my armour:

Think less; move more.

Take the first step, even if it’s a small one.

Don’t complain; don’t blame.

In life, be assertive. In the ring, being aggressive can be your best protection.

Boxing is one of my unique talents; when I box I’m happy.

While it may be one of my unique talents; I know that I’m not overly talented at it. I have a long way to go and I’m ready to work hard to see the manifestation of my vision of having an amateur fight.

THE CONTENDER

She’s tall, she’s lean

In the ring, she’s a fighting machine

She’s quick on her feet, her hands are fast

In the ring, she’ll kick your ass

She’ll duck and weave, she’ll jab and hook

In the ring, she’ll take you down by the book

But make no mistake, she’s a woman, soft and tender

In the ring, she’s a CONTENDER

THE CONTENDER was written by a close friend of mine for my birthday. Reading it always motivates me.

What are your unique talents?

(And remember Chopra’s definition: “…each of us has a unique talent that we are here to express…When we are expressing our unique talent – we are happy…”)

It’s Boxing Day and there’s 5 days left in 2010.  As I sit here and reflect on the past year, I’m struck by the “toughness” that characterized the first three-quarters of 2010.

I came to the conclusion that I had to sell my little house (aka Maisonette) in Chelsea, Quebec. A place that I loved, but was just too much for me.

Then I went through a hellish process selling it. Imagine every fuck up possible and you’ll have the broad strokes of the sale of my Maisonette. I won’t bore you with the details, but I will say that a questionable home inspector, a shoddy local water filtration company and a mortgage penalty that made my heart race, all had me up at nights.

There was the new job; one that I had hoped would be “different”. It didn’t take me long to realize that the difference I was looking for could only be experienced outside the umbrella of the public service.

There were the bad dates…oh God, there were bad dates. When I think of the characters: the RCMP officer who, on our first and only date, told me he liked my plain looks, the fireman who couldn’t look at me during dinner, the uptight businessman whose favourite adjective was “nummy (as in, “you look nummy” tonight) and the real estate agent who, after four dates, wanted to keep his options open and not commit to dating only one person at a time.

There was the loneliness and the feeling of being lost which finally overwhelmed in the summer and resulted in me having to take six weeks off of work on stress leave.

Forced smile, a self-portrait, summer 2010. Looking back, taking my picture through a decayed looking-glass was fitting.

Albert Einstein said it best, “insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.” By the fall of 2010, I finally realized that, for as long as I could remember, I was subscribing to a paradigm that shared Einstein’s definition of insanity.

Things had to change and, as the year began its sunset, I finally initiated the momentum of change. I negotiated my year sabbatical at work, I packed up the material things that “represented” my life, by divine providence I found an amazing boxing coach, made the decision to move St. Catharines to live with my sister Gail and her family and, inspired by Alan, revisited the dream of working towards an amateur boxing bout.

Here are some more numbers: 7 days left at work and 15 days left in Ottawa. Now I’m ready, the countdown is on!