Happy Holidays

This season has been a great one for myself and my family. My sister being here, always makes everything better. I can't say there are many people that I would miss having around on a day to day basis as much as my sister.

We went to Christmas Reflections at Fort Edmonton Park on Saturday. It was amazing. It was the most festive thing you can imagine. The snow was falling softly, there were live Christmas Carols, coffee and hot chocolates, horse led carts to go on rides in, candy shops, and the ambiance put me in the right spirits. We went out afterwards to this amazing vegan restaurant for dinner and had a cozy evening just hanging out, eating delicious food and enjoying each other's company.

We also had the joy of taking care of Sifu Freitag's lovely puppy for Christmas eve. It was almost like getting a puppy for Christmas without the responsibility of training it and taking care of it. So that was an unexpected Christmas gift.

I unfortunately missed my blog day this weekend. I didn't even realize that Sunday had come and gone and I hadn't even thought about writing. I ruined my streak, but hey, we all make mistakes. I can just do better next time. Perhaps I'll write my blog ahead of time next time.

Diffusion of Responsibility

In class last week, Sifu Freitag brought up an interesting concept. The concept was the bystander effect. She used the example of an argument that escalates to the point where someone needs to step in before someone is seriously hurt. She talked about how people are much less likely to jump in to help a victim when there are other people around because everyone is kind of looking to the individual next to them thinking "they will do something about it." There are many different factors that come into play in these situations, but it reminded me of something I read about recently called diffusion of responsibility.

There are many different choices we make every day. The choice to recycle, our choice of what we consume and purchase, the choice of how we treat the people around us, the choice of how we react to injustices etc.. The interesting thing is that diffusion of responsibility exists everywhere we look. We as a society have become okay with passing the responsibility of great choices and decision making onto others. We rely on politicians to make change in our country. We expect corporations to change our environment. And we also look to our peers for someone to take responsibility for our problems. It's so easy to dismiss your actions as unimportant. There's no way one person can make a difference. We're all looking for something or someone bigger to provoke the changes we want to see in the world.

Imagine if we all took responsibility for the role we play. Imagine if every person did everything we could for our neighbours, for our environment. I think we could live in a veritable utopia. It is very easy to pass responsibility onto our neighbours, but imagine what a difference we could make, if we all realized the power we have as individuals.

“In the last analysis, the essential thing is the life of individual. This alone makes history, here alone do the great transformations take place, and the whole future, the whole history of the world, ultimately springs as a gigantic summation from these hidden source in individuals.”
― C.G. Jung

Christmas Spirit

I had so much fun last night during our shift. I felt really proud of our group for taking on this extra time to raise funds for a great community cause. A friend of mine said to me, "I bet that was boring. You just sit there and ring a bell." But before I knew it, my hour was over and I was handing over the bells to Mr. Kohut.

I tried to spend my time there being really in the moment. Looking at people in the eyes and smiling at them. Genuinely wishing everyone great holiday spirits and encouraging generosity with my own spirit. And I think most people were very receptive. 

This time of year can be hard, because this is the time of year where almost all charities are driving hard for fundraising. So you have to choose the charities that speak to you personally. I was excited because at work this year instead of gifts for our clients, we took the money and donated it to some local charities. I think if everyone did this rather than give gifts, we could make this season a great one for almost everyone. Perhaps that's just naive, but I like to think of the small things we do, that can make a big difference. 

This season often encourages consumerism, what better way to turn things around than to give back? 

“Money is not the only commodity that is fun to give. We can give time, we can give our expertise, we can give our love or simply give a smile. What does that cost? The point is, none of us can ever run out of something worthwhile to give.”
― Steve Goodier

The Mental Side

I consider myself lucky to have had very formidable female role models. My mom is tough as nails, and has always had a take no nonsense attitude. And then I'm fortunate to have grown up around people like Sifu Freitag, Sifu Rybak, Sifu Cosgrove, my lovely sister, and so many others, who have all shown me the path to follow in order to grow into a strong confident woman.

In class a couple of months ago, Sifu Brinker said to the black belt class that we needed to work more on our mental game when we're practicing applications. We need to know that we're willing to go all the way. That doesn't mean that when we practice with our partners, we're going to go that far but, he expects us to know where we stand and be confident that we have the ability to do so.

Ever since that lesson, I've been really evaluating the way I approach my martial arts training. It's easier for me to focus on the physical details than train my attitude and my approach. But I think I know the direction I need to go. Step by step.