Sometimes it feels like I’m the kid that tries to color a drawing, but who lack coordination so

there are no clear lines in the picture. And to make it worse… Right next to me is
Michelangelo. He draws perfect circles free handed and is finishing of the Sistine chapel.
That’s how I felt at Mondays last yoga practice.

It is hard not to compare to others when your striving to make a pose or a transition. Especially when the guy or girl next to you moves like water from crippling pose 1 to crippling pose 2. But you’re not supposed to compare, are you? Noooo. So it’s back to internal focus. To celebrating then fact that I can touch my toes with straight legs, that I “almost” came to balance in a headstand today, that my belly lock is present at least half the time during practice. Small victories, but they are my small victories.
Katja on the other hand make way more visible progress. She even got credit from Bex in class today for cracking the code regarding the headstand. And it is really visible how she now moves into these positions. From the first training until today there has been big improvement in her movements. Very cool to see.

In class today, Bex said something like:”There is always something else to strive for when you master what you struggle with. When you master that, there is always a next level. And if you manage everything at first try, there would be no practice.” So then it’s back to accepting that “the way is the goal.”
And it is easier to accept that when there is no grading involved. As all martial artists know the grading is often the focus. The lower the grad, the higher the focus. To a certain extent it is understandable. If it means you move from beginner class to advanced or if it otherwise means you get better training partners. What might happen in this process is a failure to revisit all the basic needed to progress with the higher level stuff. I’ve done this, alongside others I know quite well. But yoga, just as an example for all such activities, is very basic intensive and the only “grading”‘ you do is when you actually do something you could not do before. You might even be alone, with no congratulations, no diploma and no one to brag about it to (unless you filmed it and put it on YouTube, as present company seems to be doing.)
You might not even make it again in ages, but you know you can, and thereby lies the goal in the road itself.
Today we have been skyping with both family and friends. Our beloved nephew Gustav Bendik is 4 years today, and he got a video messages from us. Then we had a nice talk with Jeff, who is on Tahiti at the moment, and finally my sister Brit in the evening (evening here, morning in Texas).
We do miss family and friends, but technology gives us opportunity to connect. Regardless of place and time difference.

I end with the words of Mae West:
You only live once, but if you do it right, once is enough.