When is a vacation not a vacation?

[Emil Ramos]

For the past week, I have been on vacation in Arizona spending time with relatives. Even though I am on vacation, I still sadly don't get any days off of my black belt test. I have been adjusting to a new schedule and adapting to how the day runs smoothly here. 

The first three days were hard to manage.  It was because it was hard to stay focused and not forget I have a responsibility and not just hang all day in the pool. I spent my first day getting settled in so I immediately fell behind. The next two days I had to catch up so I did a little extra here and there. It was stressful trying to  catch up. Third day I talked with my grandmother about having a planned out schedule so I wouldn’t be falling behind again.  

I kept to my original schedule by cleaning my room in the morning, doing my kata after breakfast and then my set of push ups and sit ups.  With all this work I have been doing I fell like I need a vacation. I have been using my singing bowl to meditate and it has been a lot more fun and easier to do using it. Before just listening to my breath was fairly boring and that makes it harder to be in the “zone”. I have been making an effort to balance fun with responsibilities.  Still it is hard to keep focus when there are an abundance of distractions all around you.  

[Chrissy Scott]

Glad to hear the singing bowl is helping. I'd never heard of those before. Thanks for the lesson.