Five Months of Testing Every Day

Exactly five months from now, on June 25, I'm scheduled to step onto the floor to test for my 4th degree black belt under my instructor, Sensei Brian Ricci. The 4th dan examination is a demanding one; I'll need to demonstrate my proficiency in empty-handed forms and kobudo, Okinawan weaponry. There's a lot I need to know, and I've got to be on top of my game, so I've been training like a demon since the beginning of the year so that I have no excuses in terms of my physical shape or endurance, or my level of martial arts knowledge and understanding.

I seek a fourth dan not only for my own personal validation but also so that I can be the best example possible to my students. I want to be a living model of how a Black Belt should look, think, act, train, and serve.

But I want my test to stand for something more than what I can demonstrate physically.

I start this test TODAY (just as I started it yesterday) with a particular thing in mind: Just over two years ago, my daughter Ava was diagnosed with Type I Diabetes. For those who do not know, Diabetes is an incurable (currently! nothing is impossible!) condition… Since my daughter's diagnosis, my wife and I have become experts on the disease. We have counted the carbohydrates in every single item of food my daughter has eaten at every meal for two years. Neither of us has slept eight consecutive hours more than a handful of times in two years. We are still here, we are thriving, and we are happy. In short, managing our daughter's illness makes taking a 4th degree Black Belt test look like a walk in the park.

So I'm setting the bar a little higher for myself: Artist of Life

“The most invisible creators I know are those artists whose medium is life itself. The ones who express the inexpressible—without brush, hammer, clay or guitar. They neither paint nor sculpt—their medium is their being. Whatever their presence touches has increased life. They see and don’t have to draw. They are the artists of being alive.”

• Today, I'm training harder and smarter than I did yesterday.
• Today, I'm monitoring my diet, and my consumption of goods, materials, and media.
• Today, I'm actively working to double the size of the dojo between now and June to increase the amount of good that our "tribe" can accomplish in the world.
• Today, I'm doing more "inner work" with meditation and by introducing deliberate periods of silence.
• Today, I'm working on keeping a positive, upbeat, and cheerful disposition — regardless of external circumstances and events.
  
• Today, I'm aiming to be a Black Belt level husband and father and friend by spending more energy focusing outward with compassion, kindness, and empathy.

I've got my work cut out for me. My "Artist of Life" test starts today. And it starts again tomorrow. And the next day. And the day after that.