Today has been a day. Not overly productive, but there were some really cool things that happened.

I went to the dojo this morning. Woke up at 8, made it there by 10.

Sensei Jan had said the other night that there would be a guest sensei, a 6 Dan, teaching the class, for free, so it would be really awesome if I would be able to show up. To give you an idea of what 6 Dan means… There are essentially 14 levels in aikido, and this guys is level 12.

I’m level zero still. : D

I got to the dojo a little early, so I was actually able to help clean. I got to polish the wood of the shrine (not sure if that’s it legit name) in the dojo. I really liked that I was able to do something which I felt was important, and to help take care of the dojo in general. It really made me feel like I was part of it. Invested in it.

I don’t just show up and do a workout. I help clean and care for the space as well. There’s a part of me there and I like that.

Anyway… training for 3 hours without breakfast was totally not a smart idea. In fact 3 hours at all I’m pretty sure ranks up there with bootcamp. I had no idea what I had gotten myself into.

The moves we were doing were pretty crazy. Definitely not beginner stuff. I felt bad that it was taking me a little while to get some of the moves. The hand work was so crazy, and then there was foot work to go with it, and then the pin at the end.

All of these steps that I have to remember, and just when I’m getting it I have to switch from being the attacker (uke) to being the defender (nage). Which means I’m doing a totally different routine, and then I’m back to being uke, so I have to remember the other set of motions.

I’m not going to lie. It was a lot. And in the beginning it was a little overwhelming. I kept thinking that showing up was a bad move. That I wasn’t ready for this. But I stayed, and the longer I was there the better I felt. I got to practice with Paul, and sensei Jan and Beata. They went slow with me and helped walk me through the moves, explaining what the hands were doing and why, how the feet should move and what would happen if they didn’t do the right thing.

It was really awesome.

I ended up learning how to do a ‘standing’ forward roll. I use the quotes because I was super low to the ground, but they were the highest rolls I’ve done so far, so I was totally proud with myself. It was also the first rolls I have done out of a technic and not just for practice.

That being said. Holy cow was I beat afterwards. I was so sweaty, hungry, and thirsty, and the only thing I did when I got home was get back into bed and not move while my muscles yelled at me for a while.

I ended up going back to sleep until 4ish.

I had a Skype meeting at 5pm that I needed to be awake for. So I got up, ate and poked around at a few things on the computer before that happened.

I was actually pretty nervous about the meeting. Ben had commented on one of my blogs in regards to the 30 Day Challenge I am doing, and wanted to talk about goals, swap information, and just in general get to know one another.

As an introvert I was cool with the idea of writing emails, but talking or using the web cam was so outside my comfort zone. I decided to do it though. I’m not sure why, but it felt like I should.

And I’m so glad I did. We talked about our experiences with goal mastery, our outlooks on life, our purpose, how we interact with the world around us, people we pull quotes and inspiration from. All sorts of deep things that most people aren’t interested in talking about.

It was such a fantastic conversation. It made me realize just how much I get done. It made me realize that I really do a lot of things, and I set a lot of goals that I actually achieve.

It was great being able to talk with another person who shares my outlook on life.

Very positive experience, and I’m glad I went out of my comfort zone.

After the conversation ended I had to get ready for work. Which is where I am at currently.

I have completed my sketch for my final assignment. Tomorrow I will be creating the images needed for it. I think I’m pretty done with today though. I’m still tired from the dojo. I’m sort of glad tomorrow is Sunday and that I can’t go there. I don’t know if I would survive.

Not sure if I’m going to do anything with the rest of my night. Enjoy it… I think I could muster up enough energy to do that at least.