Counting my Blessings and 2012 Goals

As this year is coming to a close, I’ve been thinking about the goals I had for this year.  I’m not going to lie or sugar coat it, I’m more than a little disappointed.  But, instead of dwelling on my disappointments, I’m going to count my blessings instead.  While I have had some ups and downs in my jiu jitsu journey this year, it has also been a year filled with some pretty amazing moments.

·        I went to a belt test and added two more stripes to my white belt (grand total of three…not too shabby). 

·        I got to witness my daughter get her yellow belt (priceless).

·        I competed in two tournaments and made some new jiu jitsu friends. 

·        I had a lot of “Ah Ha” moments on and off the mat. 

·        I realized that I am stronger (physically and mentally and emotionally) than I ever imagined I could be. 

·        I met some amazing women through Girls in Gis that share my love of jiu jitsu. 

·        I attended a Leticia Ribeiro and Beatriz Mesquita seminar with my daughter and my friend. 

·        My friend and I went to a jiu jitsu seminar with UFC fighter Charles Oliveira.

·        I won a free Scramble hoodie and then got a free Tatami Zero G Midas gi to review from BJJHQ.com.

·        I started my jiu jitsu blog, and now I have a whole worldwide community that shares my love of jiu jitsu.

Now it’s time to set some new goals for 2012.  These aren’t written in stone, and hopefully they will change and grow as the year progresses.  So, I’m taking a deep breath, and I’m going to share them with you.

·        Continue to work towards my blue belt.

·        Improve my cardio and work on my relationship with food.

·        Compete as much as my schedule allows.

·        Compete in no-gi at least once.

·        Continue to be involved in Girls in Gis and work towards hosting an event at my home gym.

·        Work on my interview series.

·        Encourage and support my daughter in her jiu jitsu goals.

·        Attend at least two jiu jitsu or grappling seminars.

·        Have more fun on the mat.

I also have a few dreams.  These are things that I would absolutely love to see happen, but afraid to speak them out loud because they might never come to fruition.

·        Help resurrect the women’s jiu jitsu class at my gym.

·        Write articles or do product reviews for MMA or BJJ related sites.

·        Try the MMA class.

·        Consider going back to college and finishing up my Associates degree.

I just wanted to finish this post with something my coach posted to me on Facebook recently.  It was after a very difficult night, and I was frustrated with always, always, always being on the bottom.  I was second-guessing myself.  I was wondering after 18 months how come I’m still always on the bottom.  I was equating being on bottom with being bad at jiu jitsu.  His words were pretty simple, but powerful. 

"I literally had to play guard and bottom position for years..ask questions..trial and error..ask more questions and now I'm confident in my jiu jitsu..when I stopped caring how good this guy was or how much better someone else was or how I wished my game was like this persons was when my game really exploded..I stopped caring about looking good and just learned to be in the moment and what my opponent wanted to give me..you’re on your way."

So, I’m not worrying about other people’s game anymore, I’m worried about my game.  Plus, I like to think that after 18 months I do have my own game.  I am confident that it will continue to grow and get better, but I believe that the core of it is already there…I was just too blind to see it.  I want to thank my Elite coaches for a great year of jiu jitsu.  I’m looking forward to many more years of beautiful jiu jitsu with you all!!