Are you ready?

Are you ready? We all get asked that question whenever some big moment is coming up in our life. Be it graduation, heading off to college, marriage, baptism, etc. Maybe it's a signal to us that yes indeed, this is a big deal that is about to happen. The more often you hear it about an event, the bigger the event is to be.

I've heard it a lot over the past two weeks with respect to the black belt test (OMG! 4 Days away!).  I usually try to say something witty like "Well, I haven't bought my energy drinks yet so no, not ready quite yet." The truth is, I don't know how to answer that. I think I'm ready.  I'm pretty confident I'll pass the test (my daughter as well). But I'm also a little worried.

The biggest issue I think I'll face is not being in the moment. In other words: lack of focus. When I practice the same thing over and over and over again, it ends up in muscle memory. I've crammed so much into muscle memory that sometimes my muscles get confused about where I'm exactly at. I then get either a step ahead of where I'm supposed to be or on a different part of the curriculum altogether. I end up thinking about what I'm supposed to be doing next vs. where I'm actually at and then the synapses start firing the wrong signals.

The second biggest issue I think I'll face is lack of stamina. I'm in pretty good shape but definitely not the best I could be. I'm in better shape than I was at the last belt test six months ago. The Saturday afternoon curriculum looks easy on paper. However, as I found out last time, it will be the most physically taxing part of it. I'm doing research into how to get my energy level up before that afternoon.  Here's hoping it helps.

So am I ready? I think so. Just anxious.