Reflection

I was thinking of the Tenets of Taekwondo perseverance, self control, indomitable spirit, courtesy and integrity in connection to how my life has changed since I started training. They appear in  every day life even though we may not realize it at first.
The most obvious place we see courtesy is in the dojang during training, saying sir or ma'am when addressing others, bowing out of respect to instructors, masters, and each other. The outside wold works the same way. I'll never forget walking into a store once after Taekwondo to buy a card for someone's birthday. When I went up to the register the woman looked at me as I said "How are you ma'am?"
Perseverance is working towards something and not giving up no matter how hard or impossible it seems. A famous quote is a black belt is a white belt who never quit.  Nothing is ever easy  you have to work hard for everything. In Taekwondo you keep you keep going and don't give up. It will get hard and you may have a bad day, not understand a technique but keep working at it and it'll pay off. When I first started training I couldn't go down for a split at all it was like a mountain. Thanks to some of the great friends I've met I kept stretching with their help in class and although I can't do a full split yet I'm further then I thought I'd ever be. The same goes for school. Always work to achieve the highest thing you can, to earn A's in your classes or get your degree. For me I will keep coming to class and train hard no matter how difficult it gets. Similarly I will earn my Master's degree even with obstacles trying to trip me up.