Thank You!

This can be a long, lonely journey or one that is a complete adventure. Each class provides yet another opportunity to meet yourself.
My journey is both…though mostly, lately it is filled with joy. I have hung in there though the hard parts. Through classes that seemed like I am never going to get it and that everyone else gets it. Through times where people have left our dojo because of what and how I was teaching. Through times where Ron’s teacher acted badly and I wanted to leave and Ron wasn’t ready to leave yet. Through times where my oldest daughter was missing for months and I would cry at every class. Through classes where there was 25 people on the mat and times where there is 3 including Ron and I. Through a dojo that was in a dirty youth center basement where the roof leaked and kids ran all over the mat with their shoes on. Through teaching everywhere and anywhere I could; churches, schools, colleges, town fairs, inside and outside, company seminars, weird collections of various martial arts events, strange summer camps…anywhere that would have me.
Now, here we are at a beautiful dojo that is attached to my house. We have classes 4 days a week so Ron and I get to train all the time. We get to do ki exercises together most mornings.
Thank you to all our students. Thank you for those who show up 4 times a week, twice a week and once a week. Thank you to the students that just come to seminars. Thank you to all the students who came… trained for a while and stopped for whatever reason. Thank you to the students who left angry and frustrated. You have all taught me so much.

Thank you to the students who pay your dues every month on time. Thank you to students who pay what they can when they can. Thank you to the students who pay extra for students who can’t pay. Thank you to the student who paid $500 a month dues when we first started teaching in our present town when we had 4 teenagers and not much income.
Thank you all for showing up so we can train. To me that is all that matters. All the rest is just blather in the wind. You and I and all the rest who come that particular day make joy. We connect, we throw, we fall, we work on ki development, we sweat and then we go back into our lives a little lighter and a little more able to be present in whatever the day throws at us.
Thank you, Thank you. Thank you…I can’t thank you enough. I am so grateful for you all.