Thoughts from Caroline, Erick, Margaret, and Sarah - Part 3

#4 Sarah w/ Felipe

It’s pretty widely accepted that one should “learn from their past” and commonly said to “seize the day” or “live in the moment”, but then there’s the pull of “hope for tomorrow” and “plan for the future.”  With all the catch phrases of life and time, it can be hard to know where to place your focus.  Our generation is infamous for seeking instant gratification.  We’ve grown up in an era where everything we could possibly need is at our fingertips.  Need directions?   Address?  Reservations?  Tickets?  To pay a bill? To answer a question?  At one point in history it was a big deal to be able to access these luxuries from a bulky computer with a monitor and a mouse, however, now our smartphones are so slim and compact that I lose mine like three times a day.  We have popularized the profound saying of “YOLO”- as if anyone at any point in time thought we ever lived more than one time – and use it as an excuse or an explanation for acting recklessly or irresponsibly.  Planning for the future has become outdated, saving money seems nearly impossible, and debt is increasingly trending.  Despite the ridiculousness of the phrase and the actions it sometimes ensues, there is truth to it.  Trends, sayings, money, and even people, will come and go, but time only goes.  The rush to live life to its fullest doesn’t come with the surprise of only having one, but with the uncertainty of when it may suddenly be taken from us.  I lost a close friend and teammate last year to a tragic accident very suddenly, and it was the first time that my invincibility was terribly shaken.  It’s not the first time I’ve experienced death of someone I love, but it was the first to occur suddenly and of someone my own age.  At only 22, her memory will always serve as a reminder that happiness or success can’t be measured by the number of years put into your life, but the life you put into your years.
So comes the challenge:  how can you balance living the present moment while still working towards future goals.  It’s hard to save for graduate school when you’re paying off undergrad.  I also refuse to be one of those people that looks back from age 30 wondering how time passed so quickly and nothing seemed to have changed.  The dilemma arises in almost every area of my life, including Muay Thai.  After my first class with Lucky, I was ready to jump in the ring with heavy hitters and bang; oh how quickly I forgot that just an hour before he was showing me how to wrap my hands for the first time.  Since starting in December, I have received advice from so many sources and gained so much from my time with LMT, but I still haven’t fought.  I’ve moved through stages of emotions with the sport – obsession, anger, frustration, doubt, joy, love.  Practice can be tedious, especially with the constant taunt of the draw to fight, but I know the hard work of the present is what will make my future successful.  The trick is learning how to enjoy the ride, take the speed bumps, and avoid the wrecks.  Struggling with my weight and some mild overtraining symptoms jerked me back to the present when I had my blinders locked in on a potential fight.  You have to pay attention to yourself every day, without losing sight of your dreams.  Focus is a key component of success.  Focusing on your dreams of the future can give you drive, but if you don’t focus on present tasks at hand, your training is less effective.  Unfortunately, there is no secret equation to finding this balance.  If you find one, PLEASE tell me!  Ability to juggle past, present, and future is a learned skill and varies from person to person.  My one luxury is having an amazing coach to keep me on the straight and narrow and anchor me when I try floating between the three time zones; when I get frustrated with myself or a skill, or if I’m too anxious to fight or try something out of my level of ability, Lucky is always there telling me “these things take time.”  My other luxury is the awesome team I’ve become a part of with LMT.  As a novice fighter, I have so many amazing people surrounding and supporting me that I can’t imagine learning Muay Thai any other way.  When I need advice, help tweaking a skill, or just a laugh (maybe a lot of laughs) I have at least two teammates five days a week and most of their cell numbers.  Friends are a good link to the past, a necessity in the present, and a hope for the future.  We all just do the best we can and lift each other up.  So to my LMT locos, here’s to our past obstacles overcame, our present obstacles being tackled, and the future when we look back and smile at all the fun we had figuring it out along the way.  Find your balance – in life and push kicks.