Recap of the last 158 days

 What to attribute this year’s momentum to…

• Journaling - it is providing me with more tangible awareness of my journey.
• Reading teammates blogs and struggles - most of the teammate blogs are relative to my own journey, maybe not my current status but certainly relative to some point in my life. 
• One on ones with Sifu Brinker - to be 100% transparent I was going to decline on this tool, as I didn’t want to be a bother and unnecessarily consume Sifu Brinker’s time. But, the conversations with Sifu Brinker have been life lifting for my I Ho Chuan journey and my personal life.
• Acupuncture with Dr. Hong - the treatments as well as the herbal powder which i take daily have been a part of my health recuperation. We have also engaged in personal discussion, which has been mentally pleasurable; he has a very humble gentle personality. 
• Communications with my wife also seem to be next level. Happy wife…
• Thank you to the Sunday morning coffee chat group which was kicked off by Malinda. It’s been nice getting to know all who have showed up.
• I have to also say thank you to Malinda for also posting the links to SRKF Facebook and instagram, as this has also been a tool which has actually assisted me. Not that I truly want to admit that last statement, as there have been times in my life where I blamed a lot of my stress/anxiety on too much social media and too much electronics in my life (way too much of that in work - I didn’t need more in my personal life). 

Through my eyes I see and feel a very positive change. But also within some blood test results do I see positive change. 

My body has created antibodies which are currently attacking my thyroid, which is known as Hashimotos disease. Over the last three months the antibody level has decreased by 25%, which is great news and my TSH value has come down and is approaching the high end of normal, also super news. I still have a low RBC count and low hemoglobin levels, which is playing a huge part in my fatigue  and short of breath when I run…but…one step at a time (literally). Apparently, anemia is a symptom of Hashimotos, so, kick Hashimotos in the butt and assist the rest of my body rebuild from there. Soon I’ll be running like I did when I was 16, lol. 

Do I attribute this to my capacity to listen and be more present? I feel that I may be living more in the present than I ever have. I’m not sure if my brain had the capacity previously, as I think my stress level has always been high, but maybe I thought that was normal…IDK.

I may have finally found some peace within…I’m not sure as I have not felt this, I don’t think ever.

The reduction in stress I believe is the main factor to the betterment of my health. 

As of recently I decided to close my 32 year business as an environmental/ reclamation oilfield consultant. This change has brought me to find a local job at a Co-op hardware and lumber outlet. The Co-op is 10km from my house, I can actually ride my peddle bike back and forth to work. How cool as that?!

This is my move towards retirement and starting to live a life at home, this is going to be the beginning of stability and balance in my life. My brain and heart could not be in a better place to make this drastic change to my life. It feels so right. I so look forward to this change in my life and I have all of you to thank for assisting in getting me here, also some others who will not have access to this journal entry. Thank you, thank you. 

July 02 (day 158) 

Acts of Kindness recorded - 383, 

Push-ups (& weights to strengthen upper body) - 13505, 

Sit-ups and or equivalents - 15580,

Rehab - Squats & step-ups started May 28th - 1810,

Kilometers (intentional extra mileage) - 1123.2,

Meditation/ inversion table  (min.) - 852,

Stretching/ rolling (min.) - 1015, 

Sparring/ grappling (min.) - 78, 

# of forms re-familiarized - 7.0

Form reps - 256,

Form time (min.) - 722,

“Mastery” recite (min.) - 96 

Blogs - 22