Tired and Spaces

Last week I said I wanted to pay more attention to what’s preventing me from training, and where the spaces are, in my life, for training. While I still didn’t get much training done (I really do feel quite tired lately), the two things that seem to adversely and dramatically affect whether or not I train are journalling and when certain family members are home. Balancing farm duties is another factor.

When I journal, things like training stay top of mind much more consistently. When I don’t journal, I don’t tend to remember to train even though there are spaces in the day for it. So, if I do nothing else, I need to journal! Finding quiet, uninterrupted time to do that seems to be the main factor. Guess I need to get comfortable with leaving to go to a quiet place to write even if people are present. Sometimes they follow me – it’s nice that my loved ones want to be with me but I’m not sure how to get them to leave me alone for a time without coming across as rude.

For the second issue, I’m not sure what to do. The problem is the disruption of schedule or pattern of life. Someone else’s schedule needs to be accounted for, which would normally be fine except that they don’t have a set schedule when they are home, and if they do have one it changes all the time. I’m not sure how to plan around that one to keep up with consistent training.

The third one is more about figuring new things out. I’ve never managed such a large property before. I’ve never kept bees on this large a scale before (and planning to make it larger). I’m still getting a feel for when it’s best to do things and when they are best left for another time. There are still a lot things to learn and a lot of systems to put in place, and they always take longer than expected (we are using Permaculture techniques). Fences need repairing when they need it, so that the cattle don’t go out onto the highway (for example) and Mother Nature doesn’t care that you have training or class to go to at the same time.

I feel like I’m finally starting to get a feel for the beekeeping part of things. Finding the rhythm of what tasks to do at what time of year and not having to double check my notes all the time or find myself doing things at the last minute. Last year I messed up and found myself assembling hive bodies and frames at the same time as actually needing them. Not this year! This year I’ve been doing that ahead of time.

That said, my most recent Kung Fu class showed me that the tiredness etc. wasn’t entirely in my head. I had a hard time with light-headedness and stamina that was quite evident in class. Today is much better. I feel like I have a little more energy and felt like I could do a little bit of training without paying for it later.

Kung Fu (sometimes spelled Gong Fu) means hard work, dedicated effort, or skillful work. Maybe that also means staying dedicated even when I’m not physically up to it for a time. Just make sure to keep moving forward. So, Kung Fu is being practiced in various areas of my life. Just maybe not in the ways that I plan.

During a tiny bit of decluttering this week I found some of my long unused Chinese tea ware, so maybe I can even find some time and energy to practice a little Gong Fu Cha. Who knows?

Numbers/Progress So Far This Year

Pushups (=): 2425/ 25000

Sit-ups (=): 2223 / 25000

Hand Form: 93 / 1000

Weapon Form: 8

                Neck Wrap: no change

                  Stall: no change

                  Halo: no change

RAoK: 126

Sparring: 100 minutes

Kilometres: 201

Memorize Mastery:

Nurture Relationships:

Journalling: 39 days

Blogging: 10 posts

One-on-ones: 6

Improve Flexibility: Have continued to work on it. Mostly legs and hips lately.

                Forward Bend: no noticeable change

                  Deep Squat: no noticeable change

Help with Level 1 Classes: 4

Decluttering: 6 days

Art: 26 days

Reading: 1 / 12 books read

Dog Training: Have been working on “au pied”. Progress has been made in that they are starting to get the idea of which side to be on. They still habitually go to the left (“heel”) side. The other day my boy went to the correct side but was facing the wrong direction. There are some exercises I want to do with them to help them get a better idea but I haven’t had much energy to work on that. Still, I find it so cute that they are trying to offer the behaviour even though they don’t completely understand it yet. Once I have more energy things should progress more swiftly.