No Growth in Comfort

The unfolding adventure that is our life should be exciting, instructive and always filled with a little uncertainty; the uncertainty is what makes it an adventure. As we live this adventure, we succeed, fail, learn, love and slowly gather our power. The way forward becomes a little less rocky and more full of possibility. As we learn to better know ourselves and better know the world, we equip ourselves more suitably for the unknown that is the future. - Excerpt from the Rogue Black Belt series.

I am often asked, particularly by beginners, for advice concerning the uncertainty and confusion they sometimes feel on the mat during their first year or so of training. Although it is true that this feeling of uncertainty, can to some extent be mitigated by designing a basic ‘game-plan’ that suits their particular physical and mental capabilities, it is this very feeling of uncertainty that is in itself highly instructive. It is good to experience a little uncertainty in our lives; as this builds and strengthens our ability to adapt and overcome; the last thing we want (if we want growth) is to have the same experience, day in, day out. Or as my good friend Geoff Thompson likes to say – “There is no growth in comfort’. How very true – thanks Geoff: JBW