CHALLENGE YOURSELF

The one thing that helped me to stay in shape is that I’m constantly challenging myself.  We challenge our minds by going to school and educating ourselves.  To gain a healthy and fit body, you have to do the same, by educating yourself and being aware of your body.  You have to put efforts into working out to see results.

My most recent physical challenge is taking Wing Chun martial art class.  If you’re not familiar with Wing Chun, it’s the foundation of Bruce Lee’s martial art.  I’m aware of my age, size, look and sex and being that it’s a male dominant club I know it would be very challenging.

My challenges:

1) Age - In general, most people consider my age as “older” to learn something new.  I tried to persuade a female friend to take the class with me and she denied and said she’d feel silly being “so old” (she’s my age, 37).

2) Size - I’m 85lbs and 5ft tall, smallest person in the class.

3) Looks - My looks works against me in this environment because the men see the ladies come and go in 1-2 months.  For that reason, the men don’t take women seriously especially the attractive ones.  Therefore, some of the men give the least amount of effort to help and are less than welcoming.  As my teacher said, “The pretty ones don’t last.  They quit when they get a bruise”.  I’ll be damned if I will be stereotyped.

4) Sex - In general, men are physically stronger than women so I will always be sparring with someone stronger than me.

I accept my challenges and have a lot to overcome.  I’m 8 months into my martial art class and some people are starting to warm up to me.  I can only prove myself in time.  But the one thing that I won’t do is to say, “I can’t” and give up.  And I’m surely not afraid to fight with a man nor will I be intimidated. 

My goal is to master a new skill and become as good, better than the men or even the best!  I never limit myself to doing or trying something new.  Most females would rather take a dance or yoga class.  There’s nothing wrong with it and I have taken some and enjoyed it very much but it’s not challenging enough for me.  With my martial art class, I’m sparring with men who are physically a lot stronger and bigger than me in size and it forces me to work even harder and keeps me coming back.

This kind of physical challenge keeps me motivated, fresh and young.  Find your challenge and let it do the same for you!  Age, size, looks or sex has never been an issue for me so I dare you to challenge yourself.