Change can be a scary thing. This past Spring, I bought a townhouse and began to live on my own for the first time in my life. Admittedly, I was intimidated initially by this life change, but despite this change, not much else in my life was different. I still went to work each day, and maintained my regular training and teaching schedule for Tang Soo Do and Hap Ki Do. Functionally, not much else in my day to day personal life changed either. I could have made excuses of needing to drive a little further to make it to class. I could have made excuses about how having more responsibilities in my life made training more difficult, but despite all of these things, I continued forward with my training and all other things in my life, not because of the familiarity of routine or convenience, but because I truly enjoyed doing them and am committed to them.
One of my students recently moved from Chicago to New Jersey. New Jersey has no shortage of Tang Soo Do, but he would need to travel an hour both ways by car to make it to class vs. a ten minute bike ride. He also mentioned that he could not see any person replacing me as his instructor. While I was flattered by his comment, I had to point out to him that his new instructor was a well regarded 6th Dan and he will do just fine him as his instructor. Upon hearing this, my student was very excited by his new training opportunities. He was initially blinded by the familiarity of his original instructor, and did not have the initial openness to see the greatness of his new instructor.
In both circumstances, if we truly enjoy training, training in and of itself will become the familiar and convenient part of our lives. The comfortability and familiarity of having the same routine and the same instructor will not matter. Despite all kinds of changes that can come into our lives, our training can become the one constant if we let it.
In the face of change, do not let familiarity of routine or environment blind you. Pause and think about what is important to you. With openness and focus on what is enjoyable and important to you. You can find consistency in what you are passionate about.
