Still Here & Kicking!

It's been well over a year since my last blog. My year has been filled with injuries, frustrations, failures, healing, progress, victories and good intentions to keep my blog current. I've had plenty of content to blog about, but somewhere along the journey this blog became a chore. However, I have really missed blogging about my long and perilous journey toward earning my Black Belt and getting back to a winning position in life, so I've decided to get back to it.

I've had a host of physical and other issues that have plagued me this last year. One really can't deny the mental challenges that accompany physical pain and I've experienced my fair share of those, too.

Where am I now? Well, over the next few weeks, we'll get reacquainted again. Yesterday I tested (and passed!) for the second stage of my Brown Belt (Brown Belt decided) and I am one step closer to achieving my Black Belt goal! The belt colors in ATA TaeKwonDo are: White, Yellow, Orange, Camoflauge, Green, Purple, Blue Belt Recommended, Blue Belt Decided, Brown Belt Recommended, Brown Belt Decided, Red Belt Recommended, Red Belt Decided, Black Belt Recommended, Black Belt! After Black Belt, one can further progress in their martial arts journey by achieving higher levels of Black Belt rank through training, instructing and testing, and these higher levels are indicated by degrees e.g. 1st Degree Black Belt, 2nd Degree Black Belt, 3rd Degree Black Belt, etc.

To keep this blog entry from becoming a novel, I'll summarize the tribulations that I've endured this past year: right knee injury, right hip injury, both feet injured, right trapezius injury (upper right back/lower right shoulder), both elbows injured, work stressors, and home/family stressors - all of which affected my training and positive mental attitude. The biggest heartbreaks for me are that I've struggled with depression and have gained back the weight that I worked so hard to lose in the beginning of my training.

Conversely, I have persevered and will continue to fight through. Though sparse and overshadowed by my challenges, I have had my share of accomplishments this year. Being the perfectionist that I am, my memory is clouded by all of the imperfections and I'm unable to recall any, though!

What's in my immediate future? I have much work cut out for me over the next 5 1/2 months, as my Instructor (Mr. F) has decided that I will test for my Black Belt in June 2010. That day of testing will be tough - 3 hours of intense TKD followed by a 1 mile run - all outside in the Texas sun with NO water breaks allowed. Not only do I want to be the best martial artist there, but I want to feel like I deserve that coveted Black Belt. Tomorrow I will carve out time to sit down and blog my specific goals for the next few months.

I'm signing off for now to get in good workout this morning! SO great to be back!

Kihap!
Dedie