A Life in the Week
I enjoyed a beautiful week away with my sons for my middle son, Diego’s, 21st birthday. We went and stayed on my buddy Scott’s property in Wisconsin and had a great time including racecars, fishing, water sports, nature, great food, and fellowship and more, finishing up with the Mall of America before flying back Friday night in time for Krav Maga Martial ArtsCertified Instructor Training (CIT) and Team KMMA Instructor Training Saturday which both were awesome too. The boys had a great time. Shihan Diego had a great birthday; Shihan Harley and I did some planning and Sensei Winston said it was his best vacation ever. We all bonded and made some great memories.
It was a great week in the life… and Wednesday night, I had the start of a meditation that I’ll finish here, with you, today; there’s a life in the week.
My buddy Scott had done such an amazing job creating an awesome agenda for our visit that, by Tuesday night having visited his shop where he is restoring a1949 Dodge Wayfarer, had fun at the racetrack, gone fishing, seen a parade and fireworks show for Independence Day and some other stuff- around midnight Tuesday as we were getting to bed we were discussing how much we had done in the day and a half we’d been there…
Then the very next day, after a great day of celebrations for Diego’s birthday, we sat on the same patio reflecting on how quick the week had flown by and that we were more than half finished, and would be going home Friday… being the consummate philosopher, I couldn’t help but think about how life’s like that. The idea probably resonates with you in direct proportion to how far you are along your week of life. Is it Tuesday, Wednesday, or Thursday?
Of course, none of us really knows how much time we have- unlike our man-made construct of the week, only God knows how long we’ve left on our week of life. What we do know, again to varying degrees depending on age, is that time does pass quickly. But this isn’t the important point of this meditation. The real point is that, while we can’t control time nor even know how fast it’s really going, we CAN control what we do with it. I’ll tell you what, we realized Wednesday that our time (on vacation) was almost up, but we also made the most of Thursday and Fridayuntil our flight too. Wherever we are in our week of life, we have all the rest of it to work with… perhaps you’re like me and realize it’s at least Wednesday- that is, I don’t know how many days I’ve left, but it’s probably not another 54 years’ worth. I’m “over the hill” if the hill represents the “humpday” of life… Someone may say, oh don’t think that way, be positive! Well, I am always positive in every situation; some get annoyed by how positive I am. But in this case, I am almost positive I won’t live to be 108. Of course, it’s possible. 🙂
But the fact that it may be a little or a lot is irrelevant or even supportive of my premise- while I can’t control the quantity of time left (at least directly, though of course we can affect probability of longevity by making healthy life choices like those we teach at the dojo), but I absolutely CAN control the quality of it! We control the quality of our lives by being deliberate about what we do with the time we have left, not by worrying about how much time that is. As my Sensei are teaching this week in our lesson of the week about CANI, the time will pass anyway; but it’s what we do with the time, and who we choose to be and become along the way that determines the quality of it. See, we could have just let this last week pass by- killing, wasting, or passing the time… but instead, and largely because of the great planning of my buddy Scott in this case, we had a plan, executed it, had fun, strengthened our relationships, and made some amazing memories instead. Believe it or not, there was even some learning and personal growth along the way as well. It was such a great week. It’s a great life too. And we don’t need to look only to my analogy but to the great examples in our dojo too. Shoot, all of them are on the quest to be their best, developing physical, mental, and emotional skills, great attitude, and strong relationships, and making a great life week by week… and some are further in the week than others. I love the fact that Dr. Mike, Shihan Kremner, “Rett” and others are training strong well into level 60, and we just celebrated KMMA Blackbelt Leader Phoenix McKinney’s level 75 with a great KMMA workout yesterday!
It doesn’t matter where we are in the week of life we’re each afforded; but it does matter what we choose to do with it. And, after all, every life is just a collection of weeks, a collection of days, a collection of hours and minutes… make every one count!
Prepare To Live; Empower To Lead! Grand Master Stephen J. Del CastilloFounding Master Instructor, Krav Maga Martial ArtsTampaKravMaga.com StephenDelCastillo.com
About Grandmaster Stephen J. Del Castillo: Grandmaster Del Castillo is the founding Master Instructor of Krav Maga Martial Arts and has been empowering lives in Pasco and Hillsborough Counties since October of 2000. He is a 7th degree Blackbelt, MBA, author, mentor and success coach, a US Army Veteran and a proud father and grandfather. He is married to Ms. Barbara Del Castillo who helps him run the school. Grand Master Del Castillo began his training in the early 80’s and has high level blackbelts in Tae Kwon Do, Karate, Premier Martial Arts and Krav Maga Martial Arts as well as experience in kickboxing, Jeet Kune Do and Jiujitsu. He has high level instructor certifications from BBSI, IKMF, and KMG and has been featured in numerous Martial Arts publications and also Success magazine. He was a competitive sport karate and American Kickboxing instructor until he enlisted in the US Army where he served in the 82nd Airborne Division, where he won an Army Green to Gold scholarship and proceeded to ROTC and the University of Tampa. He was commissioned in 1992 and went on to serve in Germany with the 3rd Infantry Division and then in several other posts in the US until he left military service to pursue his dream of creating KMMA in 2000. The Krav MagaMartial Arts Headquarters is in Lutz, FL at 1900 Land O’ Lakes Blvd., 33549. Krav Maga Martial Arts serves Lutz, Land O’ Lakes, Wesley Chapel, and surrounding areas. See stephendelcastillo.com for more information and to order my book, Developing Your Superpower, Meditations on Mastery, Volume 1. Also, check us out on Fun4TampaKids & on Go2Karate.com |
