Forgotten, But Not Gone!

Team, I'm swamped. Please forgive my lack of journaling recently. I've been invisible, but VERY busy...

My wife and I started our daughter on her insulin pump 2 weeks ago, and I don't believe she or I have slept more than 2 or 3 consecutive hours since then. That being said, things are going GREAT, and we're seeing better control of Ava's blood sugar levels than we have since her diagnosis last December. So, sleep can't be too far behind!

Lots of other stuff going on, too: I ran an anti-bullying seminar at one local grade school, where I'll also be doing some diabetes awareness training next month. At another local school, I'm seven weeks into an early morning, karate-based character education program, and my students there are giving their final performance this Friday. At still another school here in town, I'm working with a group of 6 Deaf teens, using martial arts principles to teach them confidence, discipline, self-respect, and mutual respect. Phew!


And still there's more: I'm smack dab in the middle of building out the new dojo — purchasing equipment, arranging for utility services, and planning for additional classes and programs. Couldn't do it without the help of key people on my mostly volunteer staff. Thanks, guys! More on the dojo expansion at: http://emeraldnecklacedojo.blogspot.com/

And more! A group of my new students — seven of them — just graduated from their White Belt course, and I have another 5 students starting their training this weekend. We're growing!

And more! One of my students is leading us in a "Caps of Kids" community service project. Our goal is to knit hats, gloves, and scarves, and to provide them to needy kids for the winter. We've completed over 50 items so far, and the project will continue for another month.


Did I mention I'm still holding down that pesky, full-time job where I manage a team of 25 people (20 of them are in India)? That's a whole other bucket of challenges I won't go into here except to mention that my senior students are writing papers on nonviolent conflict resolution for their Brown Belts. How do the two connect? One of the student papers I read this weekend had everything to do with learning to understand how our cultural lenses filter our reality and often contribute to conflict in the workplace.

See? I'm still learning!


Sorry to have been underground lately, team, but that's where all the growth occurs in a healthy plant before it breaks through the surface!