Remembering it is supposed to be fun

I am a serious guy.  I know this about myself and sometimes I have to remind myself to relax.  I have noticed recently in my training that I was getting to the point of training and pushing myself for its own sake rather than the enjoyment of the art.  As I was making it through the 12th repetition of the the same form, I stopped.  What am I doing.  I mean I enjoy kata and the exercise I get from it but I was going a bit far.  Sometimes you want to burn yourself and see what you can endure (much like the half marathon I ran on Sunday).  However, this should not be every workout.  I have been guilty of pushing for its own sake as of late and I haven’t stepped back to really enjoy what I am doing. 

The feeling of just getting it is nice but if you are pushing yourself all the time you don’t take the time to enjoy it and then the moment is lost.  You won’t get it back.  Slow down and experience it.  The flag posts along the way will still be there but they will mean more if you enjoy the ride along the way.  When the end becomes the purpose of the trip everything that happened along the way to get there seems to matter a little less.  I have to remind myself of this in my training.  I have enjoyed my American Kenpo classes to date and I don’t want to get lost in the grind of getting to the next belt and so on and so on.  Then by the time I get where I am going I will be burned out.  Training for a lifetime is my goal. 

As a result, I have been thinking of some things to spice things up to make my training more interesting.  I will update when I make some more decisions on this but I think I would like to add some weapon training during my private lessons to enhance my experience.  I will think specifically over the next couple of weeks.  In the meantime I will be trying to relax and enjoy what I am doing a little more.