Well, I’ve learned a few things while continuing to push through this life. One of them being to never bask in your own success for very long. It’s unhealthy. You end up declining as a person by ignoring your weaknesses. Don’t get me wrong, it’s very tempting to continue living in the House that Praise Built to remain a “winner”. But time will not celebrate deep into the night with you and neither will your opponents. Each morning the scoreboard is cleared along with your win. This is why you should never hesitates to let go of your security blankets of success. I try to always force myself into uncomfortable spaces by sacrificing who I am in order to find out who I could be. Understanding that inside every win there are a thousand losses. So for me, now it’s time to start collecting defeats. I have been taking Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu for a complete year this November and through private lessons I earned two stripes on my white belt a few months ago. I was very proud! These stripes were not easy to obtain and came with many bruised ribs, hyperextended elbows, twisted knees, black eyes, busted lips and neck pains that cost me many sleepless nights. However, those private lessons inspired me to push even harder so I joined our local gym Grip Game Jiu-Jitsu to increase my mat time. Here, I get to roll with different body types who each bring different games that create different challenges for me while I’m sparring. This led me into a new season of my Jiu-Jitsu journey where I’ve decided, on my own volition, to pull off my two stripes to start over again—a new system and a new coach who comes with new expectations. It’s a challenge to myself to see if I can regain my two stripes back under another coach’s perspective. So I would like to encourage others, no matter what age, to not value what you’ve earned more than what you could learn. Wins don’t belong in a trophy case, they belong on the mat for everyone to verify and authenticate. This is how you can become the rising tide that lifts all ships. Oss!
