I'm back!

After a rather eventful several months I'm back. There have been many ups and downs, the ever present battles I have been fighting rage on and I'm somehow making it through everything with a genuine smile on my face.

The truth is, despite everything that's going on in my life, I'm happy. Storms come, but they pass. I know that the sun is always just behind those clouds and it's only a matter of seeing the small rays of light that break through and holding onto them. It's remembering the warmth of those isolated rays after they've faded into gloom. It's finding shelter in the night, the darkest part of the storm, knowing that it's only temporary and eventually everything will be ok.

It doesn't really matter what my current storm is. All that matters is the fact that I'm alive and well. Someday, everything that has been wearing me down will show to be that which is strengthening me for something big.

K

Every Woman Ought to Know...

2 years ago I began taking an incredible class taught by an incredible woman. I was fresh out of my marriage and needed to feel strong when I heard about the class a friend at work was taking. I jumped on the invitation to go and fell in love with it right away! I feel powerful! I feel competent! I feel wonderful learning and growing in this class.

What I'm talking about is Ed Parker's American Kenpo. It's a martial art style that is very streamlined, designed for use in confrontations you may run into on the street. We are taught how to get out of holds that one might put on you in an attack. The reason I say every woman needs to know this is because it's, essentially, in depth self defense.

In this class I've learned how to get out of holds like bear hugs and headlocks. Wrist and shoulder grabs. I now know how to react to an attack whereas before I would panic. I've caught myself reflexively blocking and moving away when I would normally cower. I still don't know everything there is to know about this art. It's a lifestyle type of martial art. I've been learning for about 2 years and I'm an orange belt (meaning I've passed 2 tests), so I have a long way to go before I'm even close to knowing and mastering everything. It's quite possible I'll never know everything, but I'm not going to stop trying to learn it. Feeling strong because I have the basics to protect myself is a beautiful thing.