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| It's cloudy but the light still shines |
A few weeks ago I wrote a blog about
how I wanted to watch a sunrise from the top of Koko Head but missed
it by about 20 minutes. I figured I'd try again, which is why my day
started at 5am. I got up early, managed not to fall back asleep, and
made my way to Koko Head. I just made it to the top when the sun was
supposed to peek over the horizon and when I looked to the east it
was cloudy. I couldn't actually see the sun rise but the view was
spectacular nonetheless. Rays of light broke through the clouds to
form curtains of orange and yellow that draped over the neighbor
island of Moloka'i.
The interesting thing about my trek up
Koko Head was how a random encounter coincided with something that's
been on my mind lately: Jiu-jitsu. In the past couple of weeks I've
been thinking about where I want to go with jiu-jitsu. Do I want to
keep it up to stay fit or do something more serious with it? I've
decided that this next year I want to compete. But I don't want to
enter a tournament just for the sake of it, I want to be competitive.
And in order to do that I'll need to get a lot better and I'll need
to step up my training. As made my way up Koko Head I contemplated
how I might do this and then I ran into Professor Caveirinha, my
jiu-jitsu instructor from Gracie Barra. I guess there's my answer.
After Koko Head I went out to Ala Moana
Beach for a swim, something I've been doing in the morning the past
few weeks. On this day something different happened. The water was a
bit more murky than usual and as I swam along, a large dark figure
approached and passed in front of me. Freaked me out at first. It was
sort of round and had fins. As it got closer I could make out what it
was. A turtle! It came out of nowhere and swam with me, staying about
5 feet ahead. How often does a turtle come up to you at the beach?
How often is a turtle ever seen at Ala Moana?? It was really cool.
After the swim I made my way to the UFC
gym to roll. I had a jiu-jitsu class that morning and a friend of
mine whose just starting out – it was his second class - was there.
We took the class then hung back a while so I could show him some
fundamental techniques and submissions. It was a good roll. Hiking,
swimming, rolling, and it wasn't even noon yet.
When I got home from the gym I logged
onto Facebook and saw my page flooded with birthday wishes. New
friends, old friends, family, and people I haven't seen since high
school had posted. It was nice to see. Not to mention all the text
messages I had received. It was easy to smile that morning, and for
the rest of the day for that matter.
One text I got said to enjoy the last
year of my 20's. Thinking about it, I'm surprised my reaction wasn't
along the lines of dammit I'm getting old!
Instead I simply thought, yes...yes I will!
So
what do I want to do with the last year of my third decade? First
thing that came to mind was to keep writing. For a while now my
ambition has been to become a published writer. I've completed a
first draft of a novel, which I'm currently doing revisions on, and
I'm almost at a point of needing to search for publishers. So without
a doubt, keep writing. Next thought that came to mind was jiu-jitsu.
Keep rolling! Another thought that keeps recurring in my mind is to
remember that people matter. More than things, more than titles,
people matter. Don't want to forget that one.
Simply
put, I want to keep writing, keep rolling, keep caring, and keep
smiling. A big thanks to all the well wishers and blog readers.
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