BE SPECIAL
IT SEEMS LIKE ITS BEEN FOR EVER SINCE IVE WRITTEN ANYTHING PRODUCTIVE OR REALLY GIVEN INFORMATION REGARDING WHATS BEEN GOING ON LATELY IN THESE ... LETS SAY.. PAST 4 YEARS?? I GUESS THE STUDENTS REALLY LIKED WHEN I DROPPED SOME INFO REGARDING EVENTS OR EVEN SOME OF MY CRAZY STORIES THAT HAVE PAVED THE WAY TO WHERE I STAND ... EXCUSE ME, WHERE WE STAND RIGHT NOW.
I started training in 2004 not knowing what I was actually getting into, that's probably the best and hardest thing I ever did. I was one of those people who just went "with the flow". I was satisfied with the way my life was going..... but that was the problem ... I was satisfied, I had no real intention, no real goal for myself, I was comfortable. Thinking back to my childhood I was actually totally secluded from sports by my parents... why? Well one of the reasons was we had no money to afford any of the sports that were around me growing up. I mean I don't blame my parents at all because I could have easily changed that in high school or middle school. I just got comfortable not doing anything out of my safety zone. I was scared to try new things and found myself settling for less. You ever seen that movie YES MAN with Jim Carrey? Well that was me... I was the NO MAN. So rewind to 2004 where I'm standing in front of the man whos about to change my life. He simply asked me the basic questions... Do I know what Muay Thai is? Do I want to try a class? Being the usual me I said sure and that I would be back later that day to try it out, knowing in my head I wasn't going to come back. Well that afternoon I had one of those what if moments , something about the smell of thai oil stayed in my mind, the music, the writing . I just had to go back and see , I was curious so for the first time I took a chance. I took a class and half way I just wanted to leave I wanted to quit. But the students who were in the class with me actually gave me a hand and said everything was going to be ok. As I'm about to leave the teacher approaches me and he says " I know this is hard but your doing something most people out there are afraid to do or even try and that right there makes you special ". Those words have been engraved in my mind for ten years and I preach this to every single one of my students, friends and will always remind my daughters to never be afraid to be special. We tend to get too comfortable with ourselves and we stop growing.... we stop learning... we stop living.... we stop dreaming...Don't be afraid of failing , be afraid of not trying. Somewhere down the line at one point or another we stop living we stop growing, we get into our comfort zone. Think back to when you started learning how to ride a bike and all those times you fell, you got back up and kept on trying no matter how bad that fall was maybe not right away but you kept on trying. You weren't in your comfort zone you wanted to live and try new things. But now? how are you so afraid of failure? There are so many people out there with these great ideas and some incredible talents who actually put it to the side because they don't think they can make anything out of it or just flat out gave up. Well sorry to tell you this but your not living... Your just getting by and letting other people live your dreams and have settled for less. Get on that bike and keep on trying don't let that fall be your last attempt at greatness because some one else will pick up that same bike you just fell off of and learn how to ride it. Things are just so easy when your a kid, you have no worries and your just enjoying life. I talk to my oldest daughter and ask her what she wants to be when she grows up, well she wants to be dancer, a gymnast , a tutorial person on YOUTUBE haha. Kids are probably the biggest dreamers and most motivated individual your ever going to meet. They will do everything and anything it takes to do what they have their minds set on. Fear and comfort hasn't set in yet because a children's mind is set up to do what ever it is that makes them happy. As we grow older our way of thinking changes and we start settling for less. Relationships, work, and dreams are the main things we settle for and we just live day by day on that same routine. If ive learned anything these past thirteen years it has to definitely be that in life sometimes we have to cross that line, that line that separates us from our usual self to the person we once wanted to become. Just remember if you ever doubt yourself think of these words, cause I sure do. " I KNOW THIS IS HARD BUT YOUR DOING SOMETHING MOST PEOPLE ARE AFRAID TO DO OR EVEN TRY AND THAT RIGHT THERE MAKES YOU SPECIAL"
And its because of those words I am here standing with you guys in our new home SPIDER ATHLETICS. To every one who played a role in my journey of Muay Thai. My wife,
my kids and myself want to say thank you because with out any of you behind us none of this would be possible.
