Grounding

There is continual mention of troubled individuals taking their lives and mention of behavior from people that just isn’t right. It makes me think of myself and my younger years; the things that I did, the way I felt inside and the things that I thought about that nobody knows of. I think of the path that I could have taken in life. It’s scary knowing that the majority of the people that I walk past each and every day could be thinking or feeling the same way.

My feeling is that there are many lost people circulating this globe, without direction. There are many who alter their minds with drugs and alcohol, trying to escape. There are many that try to sooth their souls with other addictions. It is very difficult to be and exist in today’s world as we see it if you’re not in control of your mind. The problem with controlling your mind with drugs or alcohol is, it is temporary and there are always negative impacts.

From personal experience, my belief is that it starts with the parents and there interaction with their children. This may seem like a strong statement, again this is my personal feeling and seems so true from what I have personally experienced and since seen, as an observer of this world that surrounds me. Children tend to be like their parents, they tend to act like their parents and need to be taught by their parents. Building a foundation for a child is key in the development of a healthy mind. With a strong foundation, a person develops boundaries, a person develops confidence, a good self esteem, and awareness of what’s right and what’s wrong and gives them the crucial start to life.

Individuals who start off lost in this corrupt world without direction, have a very difficult time finding themselves and usually take the path of least resistance. The path of least resistance is typically the path that doesn’t require a lot of effort, it is the easy out path.

Individuals who start off strong, will want to continue to grow and better themselves and in turn want to better what is around them. With a strong mental being......ego issues, humility and empathy will become assets to your personality.

The road will not be straight and narrow, until a person finds out who they are and what is required to change to become confident and in control of who they are and their every action.

The short and skinny is that life’s journey, without a well grounded foundation, can take many undesirable paths and as time goes on the rehabilitation can be a lot like trying to teach an old dog new tricks...not impossible, but may not come very easy. If a young person is given the tools and shown the correct way, they are much more likely to continue on that path.

Darcy Regier, Silent River Kung fu, I Ho Chuan, Stony Plain, Alberta, Canada.

Hey Team!

I just feel the need to write and get the year started. My wish is to make this a better year than the previous two. I hope to have more communication with my teammates and attend more monthly meetings.

Just want to wish you all the best this year. Stay in touch?

Darcy Regier, Silent River Kung Fu, I Ho Chuan, Stony Plain, Alberta, Canada.

Day 365

I was hoping to submit another blog entry before today, but time just flew by and here we are on the last day of the UBBT. That in itself is a reminder of the short time that we have to get to know ourselves.

This year was a good year for me, it seemed as though my main focus had been on mental training. I focused on maintaining a consistent conscious awareness of my emotions and mental being. With the mental training at the forefront, my hopes were that this sort of disposition would compliment and assist me with the personal goals I set out for myself this year.

I have felt a huge shift in my life...I don't believe its just because of the more positive outlook that I have on life in conjunction with what a lot might call the law of attraction, but what ever it is, it is working for me.

With the changes that I have made mentally in my life, I have noticed a shift in my kung fu...this to me is still two of the same, but because I have focused more on allowing kung fu to assist my old life, instead of trying to fit my life into kung fu - I have to word it as there being a shift in my kung fu. My next challenge will be to further myself, by incorporating my mental learning's into such things as sparring. An adjusted approach into my kung fu training should bring on a whole new realm of sight and possibilities.

Darcy Regier, Silent River Kung Fu, UBBT, Stony Plain, Alberta, Canada.

The Beginning of the End or is it the End of the Beginning?

The year long UBBT is nearing the count down. We have two weeks to make this a finish to remember. Soon it will be time to reflect on where this challenge has brought us...was there growth, gain or achievement? Did the challenge go smoothly through the entire year...? Did you challenge yourself to build yourself or defeat yourself? There are so many questions to ask and so much to learn from this test.

The question that I had to ask myself at the end of my first year was, "is this the beginning of the end or the end of the beginning? "Beginning of the end", meaning - the continuation of the first year and "end of the beginning", meaning - end of the what could have been a life long self learning tool.

I obviously chose the "beginning of the end" and will again next year.

Too many people choose to stop learning and stop challenging themselves. I see what that does and personally I think its best to keep your mind active, continue to learn (about yourself) and grow within.

All the best to my teammates, keep on learning!

Darcy Regier, Silent River Kung Fu, UBBT, Stony Plain, Alberta, Canada

Finding My Place in My Life

First is a disclaimer that this blog is based on my personal opinion and experiences and is not intended to be used as a guide or scale for your life, but is just my food for your thought. LOL!

Most of my blogs link together one way or another, but anyway, I wrote awhile back on how I felt, that we could have control of our thoughts, if we so chose to.

Choosing to gain control of yourself is really self awareness and finding yourself; amongst living in the moment, living with intent and purpose. I have found that there are obviously things in my environment which have an impact on me, but it is how I choose to react which dictates the outcome.

This is not a written challenge, and maybe it should be, but I always want to become a better person, a better me. I feel that as I build in that direction, that most of everything else becomes easier. My stress level decreases and along with that is a multitude of goodness. The goodness typically just seems to linger, of course a good linger...like lint! I could use the word cling but I think linger best describes how It feels, it’s like an aura.

There are times when I lose my focus, and what happens....ya, stress builds, hopes, goals and dreams are lost in the back of my mind, even the smallest things that were easy to control become a challenge. At that point, I have found it very important for me to communicate. The people who communicate with are people who I trust, good listeners, also people who aren’t afraid to tell me the truth, whether it momentarily offends me or lifts me.

When I manage to stay on track, the feeling is overwhelming. When I say stay on track, for me that involves, how much and what I eat, my strong work ethic, communications with friends and family, exercise, maintaining goals, my kung fu training (physical), everything. Really if I look at this list, it is really, so much about mind control.

I know myself well enough, I say “well enough”, because I don’t feel that I know everything about myself and don’t know if I ever will. Wouldn’t that be cool to know everything that you were capable of? Off topic, but...I know myself well enough to know where my boundaries are, what impacts me in a good way and what impacts me in not such a good way. By staying within my boundaries and focusing on in a nut shell...who I want to be and what I want from my life, life becomes that much more pleasurable, it becomes easier, not a threat or challenge.

I can 100% fore sure say that one of the major influences to my personal betterment has been kung fu. Some might say.... How can kung fu do that much? There has to be something else to attribute your success or feelings to? Really the way I see it... life is a huge mind game! Once you are capable of controlling the main switch board, the smoother the operation of all the connected components.

Look at all the people affected by mental illness, this is not a game, but it is part of the realm of life; part of which we have the ability to alter. I feel that 80-90% of my kung fu training and benefit is mental. So, what I said earlier was essentially that my mental stability, self awareness and stress levels, are in a good place and is having a dramatic affect on who I am.

I still have lots to work towards and improve; goals to meet and challenges to face, but I like who I’m becoming.

Darcy Regier, Silent River Kung Fu, UBBT, Stony Plain, Alberta, Canada.

What kung fu has done (is doing) for me?

I have thought about this question even more after accepting my black belt than I did during the preparation of that paper.

Oh man... wireless................I had what I thought was a good entry, and it just got wiped out, except for my first sentence.

The short and skinny of the long lost entry, is how I've come to realize how I see and feel kung fu serving me. I don't feel like the individual who started at Silent River with the low self esteem (which still stayed with me for about 4 years into my training). I see the change in how I'm being perceived....and I for the most part feel more confident and in control of my emotions. There are of course moments where the sun doesn't seem as bright, however overall I feel an inner peace, a calming, and I'm going to run with it.

Darcy Regier, Silent River Kung Fu, Stony Plain, Alberta, Canada.

What to Say...?

My new job has kicked off, which has pulled me further from home and for the most part, for longer durations, but it is the scheduled days off which I hope will make all the difference from my previous 20 years in the oilfield.

My personal challenge this year is to further my advancement in my kung fu, while being away from the facility for about 60% of the year. My attendance is going to be a wreck, but I will have to shine in other areas to prove my worthiness. Always a challenge to keep me at the forefront of who I am and even more so, who I want to be.

Darcy Regier, Silent River Kung Fu, UBBT, Stony Plain, Alberta, Canada.