an examined life
I’ve been giving some thought lately to the different paths I can choose for my life. I’ve no intention of changing from the one I’m on, but I have been thinking about where the various paths open to me could lead - and what I could learn.
As you know, I’m working towards taking my black belt test. With a bit of luck and a lot of hard work, that will be this November. It’s been an interesting journey so far, and continues to be. I’ve been reflecting on where this has taken me, the things I’ve learned, and the things I have yet to learn. I don’t know everything I will be learning - I have an idea what I’ll be learning on the mat, but not necessarily how that will translate into my life off the mat, and I’ve found that’s where I’ve learned the most - applying lessons on the mat to my life.
It got me to thinking about things. What would I be learning if the predominant activity in my life outside of work wasn’t martial arts - what if it was photography? Or, instead of software development, what if I had managed to become a chef, as I had once thought? Or a landscape architect? Who would I be meeting, what sort of things would I have learned, and have yet to learn? All paths are valid ones, and they sometimes lead in very divergent directions, teaching some things similar, some different than each other.
Those are the thoughts I have wrestled with lately.