Do you enjoy your job?

[Telsun]

I am happy with my life I have a lovely wife, two beautiful little girls, a modest house and car.........you get the picture. I also have debt which is a bit of a head ache but it's under control

So the point of this thread?
It was my first day back to work today after a couple of weeks off. I Struggled to get up but the long 12 hour day was......okay. I am happy with my life except for my work. I work for a pharmaceutical company making tablets. It's okay but I thought that I would make more of my myself than this.
I dream of owning a gym/martial arts school. With a mortgage and wife and kids to support that is all it will be, a dream.
I do not wish to be a millionare although that would be very nice. I want to do rewarding work that I enjoy doing, although it must support my family. I just don't know what to do with myself.

Karate is my life, it is the only thing I can really confess to being any good at. But I will never make a living from it, which is very disheartening.

My questions to all of you are:
What do you do?
Is that what you chose to do? If it is why?
What is your dream job/childhood dream?
Should I stick with my job and just consider myself lucky that my job is okay or make steps to better myself?
Have you made millions? If so how!!
Have you made martial arts your life and work?


Please give me advice I really could do with some wise words

:

[Melanie]

I have my own little dreams too. I've been pretty lucky in the past though. Anything I have REALLY set my heart within my financial constraints I have been able to get/obtain though. We all have our limits but whats the point in living if we don't set ourselves some targets and slowly but surely exorably achieve them.

My questions to all of you are:
What do you do?
Insurance Administrator, MAP Moserator, willing participant in violant and aggressive martial arts (any and all that I can afford to get to and want to have a go at)

Is that what you chose to do? If it is why?

My first job after school was working in an Insurance Brokers selling Motor Insurance and I have drifted in and out of insurance ever since. I am currently an Insurance Administrator in Commercial Insurance now, Shops, Restaurants, Commercial Vehicle that sort of thing. I enjoy insurance now and will try and stay in this field as I have begun to understand it and can help people at their most trying times (accidents/fires, etc).

What is your dream job/childhood dream?
You know when you have to choose your subjects, I directed my classes to be a nursery nurse. I passed ok and even went on to pass my nurses exam but at about that time the Government were making redundancies in the NHS and any future in Caring seemed low, slow and with no real financial rewards so I shelved it for the time being.

Should I stick with my job and just consider myself lucky that my job is okay or make steps to better myself?
I won't bore your with the amount and varied types of jobs I have had but let me just say that I could fill several pages with them. I have been known to do 3 jobs at the same time though. At my immense age of 28 I now can't be bothered with the polictics involved at work and now just want to be left alone to get on with my job and get on with the other members of staff there. As long as you don't feel sick thinking of work and can take that journey of however long in the morning without dread then I say stick it out - but if the enjoyment has gone perhaps it's time to move on?

Have you made millions? If so how!!
Nah - not likely!

Have you made martial arts your life and work?
No...not yet...though I do spend all day Monday to Friday on this site...or is that considered sad?

Please give me advice I really could do with some wise words
Simple really - can you name the 5 top things that you enjoy and try and incorporate it in your job? If not take up another pass time or additonal training (i.e. night classes) to achieve your goal then your current job shall be a vehicle for you to attain the job you do want.

[Saz]

The thing I find with dreams is that you build them up to be something really good. When they come true you get let down because they're never as good as you've built them up to be in your head. Thats not to say I don't have them, I just don't expect them to come true. Bonus if they do though.

What do you do?

I'm a postgraduate student in Computers. I did a degree in English Lit, looked for jobs over the summer and couldn't find anything that either suited me. Other than that, I've spent my working life in bars, and I really liked it. Except being sober on the weekends.

Is that what you chose to do? If it is why?

Yes. I had a good think and decided to do what I'd wanted to do since I was 18, Computers. My other choice was to go do a job I know I wouldn't have been happy in.

What is your dream job/childhood dream?

When I was a kid I used to dream about being a scriptwirter.

Should I stick with my job and just consider myself lucky that my job is okay or make steps to better myself?

It all depends if you can get another one that won't leave you out
of pocket. I always keep in mind that if you have a job you love, you never have to work at it (don't remember who said that though?) If you're really unhappy though, make a move before you go nuts.

Have you made millions? If so how!!
Easy... get a scanner, printer, a £20 note and a *lot* of spare time .... :)

Have you made martial arts your life and work?
MA is my life, but if I did it as a Job I can't help but think it would be spoiled for me.

Sarah

[Bon]

Originally posted by Telsun
My questions to all of you are:
What do you do?

I'm a poor University student doing commerce/computer science, looking for a part time job. :D

Is that what you chose to do? If it is why?

Yeap.. I want a job that I will enjoy

What is your dream job/childhood dream?

Run my own business(es), primarily a full time martial arts dojo. There isn't any in my town, it's just waiting to happen! Although, that may change to just instructing, my training buddies have talked about opening up a full time dojo, so competition would be too intense and I want to remain friends with them. :)

Should I stick with my job and just consider myself lucky that my job is okay or make steps to better myself?

Don't ever settle for second best, refuse to accept mediocrity! :D:)

Have you made millions? If so how!!
Not yet, plan to one day though.

Have you made martial arts your life and work?
My life, yeap. It's not possible to make it my work yet, but I will when I can. :)

[pesilat]

Originally posted by Telsun
My questions to all of you are:
What do you do?
Is that what you chose to do? If it is why?
What is your dream job/childhood dream?
Should I stick with my job and just consider myself lucky that my job is okay or make steps to better myself?
Have you made millions? If so how!!
Have you made martial arts your life and work?

Well, I'm in a pretty rare situation. My wife makes good money and enjoys her job (not every aspect of it, of course, but overall). Consequently, if I don't make much money, it doesn't hurt us.

I was a computer programming consultant until Feb. 2001 when I moved down to Texas to teach, train, and pursue my interest in writing (the guy I was training with in TX is both a top notch martial artist and an award-winning author). From Feb. 2001 to Oct. 2002 when I moved to Louisville, KY, I made a whopping total of about $300.

But, that was also a prearranged "sabbatical." We knew I wasn't going to make much (if any) money while I was down there.

Now, I'm in Louisville and I'm getting a school going. Right now I only have a few students -- which is, in a way, a good thing since I'm teaching in the living room of my apartment.

I'm still not making any money to speak of. Between writing and teaching, I'm currently making about $300 / month and pretty much all of that is from teaching. I've only sold one short story at this point. I'm waiting to hear back on the proposal I submitted for a non-fiction martial arts book I've written.

My goal is to buy a place to live that also has a reasonably sized training area where I can start an actual school.

Once I get everything sorted out, I'll personally own the living space and the school space. The school will be incorporated. I'll lease the space to the school. This will provide me with a personal tax break as a landlord. And the school will be able to write the lease off as a business expense. Ideally, I can reach a point where the school can afford to pay me a lease amount that covers my mortgage payment (and maybe some extra). But, even if it doesn't, it'll help with the mortgage payment and I have to have a place to live regardless.

I think I could have managed everything I've managed and still kept my consulting business going. But I got to the point where I hated programming for other people. If my wife's job hadn't allowed me to do what I've done, though, I'd have gritted my teeth and kept doing it. Or I'd have found another job. Maybe returned to data entry. Didn't particularly enjoy data entry, but it paid my bills for 6 years before I got into programming; I was good at data entry, and it was a mindless thing. I did quite a bit of good writing while doing data entry. I'd think about the poem or story while the data flowed through my eyes and out my fingers. Then, on my break, I'd scribble down the poem/story.

But I really think it all comes down to prioritization (at least in my experience). I decide what I want. Then I decide what it will take to achieve it. Then I figure out what, realistically, I have to do to accomplish it.

I don't ever plan to make a lot of money teaching martial arts because I'm not willing to make certain sacrifices that I would have to make in order to achieve that. I don't ever expect to make a lot of money writing because martial arts is my first priority and, from what I've seen and read, to ever become a successful writer, it has to be your number one priority.

So, I plan to make some money teaching martial arts and some money writing. Hopefully, between the two, I can

If, however, financial success actually comes from either endeavor, I certainly won't complain.

But my number one goal is to be happy.

As far as my "childhood dreams"? Well, I started programming computers and martial arts when I was 8 years old. By the time I was 9, I knew I wanted to continue doing martial arts for the rest of my life (though I don't recall thinking about teaching it). And by the time I was 10, I had decided that I wanted to be a computer programmer.

I succeeded in becoming a computer programmer and was successful at it. But I hated doing it for bosses. I still do quite a bit of programming for myself and a few close friends. And have even, occasionally, taken a short-term contract job to make a little side cash.

I feel that martial arts is definitely my life (except when friends and family have to come first).

I don't consider martial arts to be my "work." I think that martial arts is something to "work at" but shouldn't be "work." :)

If there ever comes a day when I don't enjoy teaching/training martial arts, then I'll find something else. But I don't think that'll be an issue. I've been involved in martial arts for 23 years and counting -- and loved every single minute of it. I've been teaching since 1998 (got my instructorship in 1999, but regularly taught classes before that to help out my instructor). And I've loved every single minute of those 5 years and counting.

Hope that helps, Mike

[Bon]

Good post, Mike!

You do enjoy programming, but just not for other people? What languages do you use? What kind of applications do you code?
Do you mind elaborating on that?

I'm doing a CS degree to pay the bills and get sufficient cash to start up my own business(s). :D

[pesilat]

Originally posted by Bon
Good post, Mike!

You do enjoy programming, but just not for other people? What languages do you use? What kind of applications do you code?
Do you mind elaborating on that?

I'm doing a CS degree to pay the bills and get sufficient cash to start up my own business(s). :D

Yup. Specifically, I don't enjoy programming for bosses. I don't mind programming for friends (i.e.: right now, I'm in the middle of developing a program to help my instructor manage the office work at his school). One example of an incident that got me burned out on programming for bosses:

The manager of a work group had put together a "work log" in MS Access that they could use to log the time spent on projects which, then, was used to bill the group's clients. It worked, but was kind of clunky. The manager hired me to streamline it and convert it to a web-based application so his people would have access to it when working from home or while traveling.

I took a copy of the database and started developing. I was going to be using the database he'd put together as the backend for the web app (I'm not a big fan of Access, but I didn't see the point of reinventing the wheel). After about twenty hours of development, I had the basic skeletal structure and some basic functionality done. I took it in to show the manager. He loved it. Then he said, "I made some changes to the database. Will they affect what you've don?"
I said, "What kind of changes?"
He said, "Oh, I just changed some table names and column names. Removed a few columns and added some new ones in some of the tables."

It was all I could do not to strangle him. I explained that the front end app has have a stable back end. The data can be changed and manipulated all he wants, but the structure of the database has to stay the same. I went back and modified my code to accomodate the changes he'd made. When I went back, he'd made more changes. I couldn't make him understand that he couldn't make changes like that. So, basically, I spun my wheels for on the project for about 2 weeks and was constantly having to modify my code to deal with the changes this guy had made. Then I told him that he was making it impossible. If he kept doing this, it would take me a year to finish a project that I should be able to finish in a month. After another week of the same thing (the guy just couldn't understand that changes to the structure of the database were a big no-no), I quit. As far as I know, they're still using the same clunky work log they were, but I probably wouldn't recognize the structure of it at all now.

Anyway ... I've programmed in quite a few different languages over the years. Started with BASIC on a Commodore Vic-20 as a kid. By the time I was a junior in high school, I'd programmed in BASIC, Pascal, Assembly, and Logo. All of which was self-taught. In high school, I had a class on BASIC and one on Pascal; I knew more than the teachers. In college, I did COBOL and some JCL. Didn't much care for either. In my other CT classes, I often knew as much or more about the material than the instructors. I quit 30 credits shy of my Associate's degree.

Since then, I've taught myself (either for jobs or for myself) FileMaker Pro scripting (that was for my first "programming" job), Visual Basic (not much of a jump from BASIC), ColdFusion, HTML, JavaScript, PHP, Vignette StoryServer (which also included some TCL), SQL (not really a programming language, but integral to DB interaction, of course), and NSBasic (for PalmOS). I had a little exposure to PL/SQL (Oracle's scripting language), C/C++, and Java.

These days, about 90% of my programming is web-based done in PHP with a MySQL backend. Another 9% is in VB. And about 1% is in NSBasic. Nearly all of this is for my own personal stuff, though I occasionally do stuff for friends and, once in a blue moon, on a short-term contract basis.

Mike

[darlph]

I wanted to do art graphics, love to draw, and even went to some college courses. I was very unhappy when I had to do basic math when in H.S. I was doing geometry. Then I went to a tech school for commercial art. In my High School and college courses certain things I needed for tech school were not available and I was very behind other students in my class. Finally, I decided to quit and I went off on my life "adventure". I ended up waorking in motorcylcle shops for over 18 years, the last few at this one shop very unhappily. So I changed to factory work and now I'm not even remotely happy after 4 years there. Oh it was nice at first, buit after I got to really know my gossiping fellow empolyees, I yearn for the good old days of motorcycles. Hey, if you need a computer cable I can make it for you, but to sit there day after day....................
The only bright spot I have is going into the dojang and working with those 4-5 year olds and watching them continue on to higher ranks. Their smiles keep me going. I believe karate is the only thing I ever enjoyed in college. When I ride my motorcycle out on the open road, I feel like a different person and my attitude is very upbeat. When I walk into my factory job, to pay the bills what little it does, I just want to turn around and leave.
I will never be a retiree in this great state of Florida, I will be working till the end and hopefully teaching kids and riding my motorcycle.

[Jim]

Hmmm, how to make a successful thread that will make people post huge dialogue that will ensure anyone wanting to read it uses up all their morning tea/coffee reading it... :D

Funny how you beat me to the punch in this, Telsun. It was my intention to write a topic asking why people have left their jobs in the past, but this is kinda the same thing...

My 2c is that the old theory of 'if you won $30M what would you do with the rest of your life' doesn't really work. You need to keep recreation and worklife seperate otherwise you will go insane. If you really enjoy making ice cream and decide to do that for a living, odds are that you'll have bad days every now and then and not have another outlet/hobby that you can escape to.

Personally I re-invent myself every few years and do something totally different. I'm lucky enough to have an understanding spouse and relatively low requirements so that we don't starve, but the truth is that we make our own prisons. There are always excuses that you can't leave your job because... or ... when the truth is that if you were to be diagnosed with a terminal illness and only had six weeks to live, would you be happy that you've done things that you wanted to do?

There are always consequences to every decision you make (good and bad). What you need to decide is how much is enough before you can no longer do what you've been doing.

Another way to think of it is from your children's point of view. What if your children were to have exactly the same life as you? Would you be happy for them or not? If the answer is no, then you need to ask yourself why the bloody hell you keep living the way you are.

Indecision is a terrible thing, but then again so is making a really bad choice. At the end of the day they still can't take your birthday from you whatever you decide to do.

[darlph]

Apparently, let's get our ducks in a row, eh? I guess when you are young and dumb you feel you have forever, don't you? Then one morning you wake up and realize you are 46 and bored. I am accepting of the consequences of my crazy decisions at this point of my life. At this moment I do have a few "projects in the works" with MA involved and the drawing I so like to do. The riding helps to clear my head and think. Create, is a better desciption. So perhaps in the near future, soon I hope, you may see some of my creations. But I still keep a full time day job to pay the insurance coverage needed for my meds. This summer I am trying to make it into a night computer grapics course to help me understand this infernal thing.
And yes. I do like to ramble on. isn't this the place for it so I can drink my tea and relax a bit with friends?

[pgm316]

Originally posted by Telsun

My questions to all of you are:
What do you do?

Finance officer for an evironmental charity.

Is that what you chose to do? If it is why?

No, I never really choose anything, just happened to be good with maths, IT and ended up in this sort of work. Although I did turn down a job at British Aerospace to stay here, saving the environment! ;)

What is your dream job/childhood dream?

To do nothing, I always wanted to live like a playboy off some easy income! :)

Should I stick with my job and just consider myself lucky that my job is okay or make steps to better myself?

I think theres 2 factors involved. Liking a job and not hating it. I can't really imagine a job that makes me feel glad I'm getting out of bed early in a morning. However I think I'm lucky I don't hate it!

Realistically, what job can you get that you'll enjoy?

Have you made millions? If so how!!

Doubt I ever will. Takes a lot of drive and determination, or a damn good idea! I always keep a look out for opportunities to make quick $ here or there. I think it would take setting up my own business to generate a good income which lets me do what I want. Thats the way forward!

Have you made martial arts your life and work?

I don't think I could unless it was some kind of martial arts shop and would I really want to do that :confused: I prefer the previous idea.........

[KarateKid1975]

What do you do?

Retail.

Is that what you chose to do? If it is why?

No, just got the job.

What is your dream job/childhood dream?

I had a few dreams as a kid. One was to work with animals. That's still a thought. The other was to be a musician. That didn't work out.

Should I stick with my job and just consider myself lucky that my job is okay or make steps to better myself?

I'm sticking with my job, because I like the folks I work with/for. I don't get paid big money, but I enjoy it there. I work in a small grocery store. It's family owned. The owners are very nice. They don't treat anyone like garbage. They even buy gifts for birthdays and Christmas for the employees. I didn't have a job when I moved here. This time last year, I was bored with no job and money. My honey was supporting me all the way, and I was uncomfortable with that. I wanted to help.

Have you made millions? If so how!!

Not likely, unless I hit the lottery.

Have you made martial arts your life and work?

Yes, MA is my life. But not work .... yet. I do want to open my own dojang in 5 years or so. My honey wants to retire first. He makes the money, so he wants to save up, then retire.

[Joe karate]

What do i do? Busboy/host in a restaraunt!(Hey I'm 16, I take what I can get)

I took the job out of neccessity, I'm gonna have to buy a car soon and pay for other crap when i get into the "real world" and figured I'd start saving.
I want to teach Chemistry in the future, and yes i love my current job, the people are great there. Everyone there is friendly and I'm just glad i didn't end up working at McDonald's!

[KickChick]

Originally posted by Telsun

My questions to all of you are:
What do you do?

Mom of 3 kids (9, 18, 16)... wife, work part time at a travel agency and kickbox/TKD instructor

Is that what you chose to do? If it is why?
Well, the wife & mom definitely yes!!

What is your dream job/childhood dream?
Went to college for radio/TV ... but then I would have had to leave for the big city to make the big $$ .... I chose love & happiness instead.

I've made martial arts both a pastime, work, hobby, way of life ... something to always improve upon.... a goal to always reach to become the best I can be both physically & mentally.

Hobby.... meaning I enjoyed moderating a MA forum also and enjoyed helping others reach and try to achieve their very best by offering advice through my experiences.

Wise Words? Never ever ... give up on your dreams!!!!

[Telsun]

Wow!!! Thanks for all your responses. I have been watching and reading with great interest and appreciation of the time (a great deal of time in some cases) taken to reply to my thread.

However, please excuse my delay in responding. I just have not had 10 minutes to myself to sit down and write!!

There have been very many things mentioned that have been of great value to me. I will not address them, but I assure you I have been inspired, thanks. There is one thing I would like to know though......Persilat, does your wife have a sister? You are one hell of a lucky man. I read another post of yours about moving states just to train under a particular instructor! My wife complains of me training a couple of times a week, travelling just 20 or so miles! It must be superb to have that sort of support from your family. I miss this and have never experianced it. No one has ever showed much of an interest in my training, from my parents to my wife, not in any depth anyway. I find it a struggle to keep motivated. I have been training for about 15 years now but there have been times in that period that I have not been training as intensley as I should have. I may start another thread - HOW DO YOU MAINTAIN YOU MOTIVATION?

Anyway back to the subject of this thread.

As I stated in my original post my job is okay. I am grateful for that. It also pays pretty well and if I did not work there I would not have the lifestyle I enjoy now (don't get me wrong, I am not rolling in it and I lead a humble life).

As I mentioned your posts have been an inspiration but I am aware that only I can sort this out. Let me enlighten you further as to where I am at and maybe you would be kind enough to advise me further:

- I work 12 hour shifts, I enjoy the days off but often have to work them to make ends meet.
- The shift pattern does not allow me to train as often as I wish and disturbs my body clock to the point where I always feel exhausted. Also because of the shift there is no chance of me starting my own dojo, again......
- I had a dojo a few years back. I was in the "business" for all the wrong reasons (bad leadership from a former sensei). I realised this when I met my current sensei. I closed my dojo to develop myself. I MISS MY DOJO.
- I long for things that I cannot have, but will oneday.
- I long for things that I cannot have!!!
- I am 26
- I'm good but not that good

- I see quite a bit of my family (but don't always make the most of it)
- I sell some martial arts stuff on Ebay (books, weapons, etc) I love it and make a LITTLE money.

I have been thinking about my career (obviously) and if time allowed I would be a chiropractor. But you need to study full time, something that I am unable to do. I am considering alternative medicines that I can study part time. The careers I look at all seem to involve helping people. I HAVE DIRECTION, not much but a big step that will get me on my way.

I believe that I have realised my biggest downfall - I think I am special!? Now I know that we are all special in our own way, but I believe that I am really special. Not in a big headed/ego type way, or snobby or anything. Just destined for........something. I think that if I can loose this train of thought and get on with life I may just get somewhere. Does anyone else feel this way?

Well that's it. alot of writing with not alot said!! I would appreciate anymore feedback that you can give me. I really am one lost little pup!! Ahhhh........

p.s
I would like to write a book oneday (obviosly a martial arts book, its all I know!) and I would like a copy of Persilats!!!

Thanks guys and girls and keep it coming.

[hongkongfuey]

I thought I'd go for the shortest response here!

What do you do?
IT Management

Is that what you chose to do? If it is why?
Yes - Computers are more interesting than people

What is your dream job/childhood dream?
Astronaut

Should I stick with my job and just consider myself lucky that my job is okay or make steps to better myself?
You spend half your life at work, why not enjoy it? Make steps to better yourself - do a part time course if you can that would help you change careers. Maybe a business course would give you some ideas in starting your own business if that is what you want to do.

Have you made millions? If so how!!
Converted my money into Italian Lira. £500 should do the trick. I really believe that the only way to earn a decent salary is to work for yourself. However, there is always the risk of it not working out!

Have you made martial arts your life and work?
It was once, but it has slipped in the last few years. Job, family, study and working on a few business ideas has eaten up all my time. However, once I give up the day job and the studying ..... (400 days and counting!)

[pesilat]

Originally posted by Telsun
Persilat, does your wife have a sister?

LOL. I hear that one a lot. In fact, she has 2 sisters. But both are happily married. Her brother is single, though, if you swing that way (j/k :) )

You are one hell of a lucky man. I read another post of yours about moving states just to train under a particular instructor!

Yes. I'm incredibly lucky. It's one of the many reasons I would never dream of cheating on my wife. As far as I'm concerned, my relationship with my wife is about as close to perfection as is possible. I know I could never find that with another woman so I'm not about to risk losing it for any reason :)

My wife complains of me training a couple of times a week, travelling just 20 or so miles! It must be superb to have that sort of support from your family. I miss this and have never experianced it. No one has ever showed much of an interest in my training, from my parents to my wife, not in any depth anyway.

Most of my family doesn't get it. My mom, for instance, doesn't understand it at all. I don't think my sister does. My dad gets it, but he's very laid back, anyway.

My wife gets it. She has no interest in martial arts at all. She enjoys watching me do it because I enjoy it. But she has things that she's as passionate about as I am about my MA. So she understands.

My wife knew from the first time we met that I was serious about my MA training and willing to go to great lengths to pursue it. For the first year she knew me, I was driving 2.5 hours each way to train (she lived near my instructor so I would drive over after work on Friday nights to train and spend time with her; on Monday, I'd drive back 2.5 hours to go to work). I did that every single weekend for a year. Then I moved in with her.

After I moved in, I was working 40 hours / week and training 20 - 30 hours / week. I did that for 5 years. Then I moved to Texas to train with another instructor. I continued visiting my primary instructor regularly while I was in Texas.

Basically, it boiled down to setting my priorities and sticking to them. On my wife's end, she stays aware of my priorities and does everything she can to help. If there's a seminar coming up and she knows I want to go to it, she makes sure to put the cost in the budget. Things like that. Whenever she can help out at an event, she does. All my instructors love her, too.

My wife knew from the get-go what she was getting into with me and my MA; she even let me have a martial arts demo at our wedding reception :)

Of course, it helps that we don't have any kids. She has a son, but he was 15 when I met her. He's got some problems (high functioning Autistic - technically, Asperger's Syndrome), but is now 22 and living in his own place in an assisted living facility.

I find it a struggle to keep motivated. I have been training for about 15 years now but there have been times in that period that I have not been training as intensley as I should have. I may start another thread - HOW DO YOU MAINTAIN YOU MOTIVATION?

Motivation's never really been a problem for me. Some tips, though:

Explore other arts that you're interested in and look for connections back to what you already know.

Explore what you already know to find things you've never noticed before.

Focus on a different aspect of your training than usual.

Take something you really have a lot of trouble with and explore it; the challenge will be frustrating but may also keep you interested.

Here's a link to an article one of my instructors (the one in Texas) wrote: http://www.joerlansdale.com/shenchuan/newsletter/volume2/issue1cover.htm

It talks some about this situation, too.

Anyway back to the subject of this thread.

As I stated in my original post my job is okay. I am grateful for that. It also pays pretty well and if I did not work there I would not have the lifestyle I enjoy now (don't get me wrong, I am not rolling in it and I lead a humble life).

As I mentioned your posts have been an inspiration but I am aware that only I can sort this out. Let me enlighten you further as to where I am at and maybe you would be kind enough to advise me further:

- I work 12 hour shifts, I enjoy the days off but often have to work them to make ends meet.
- The shift pattern does not allow me to train as often as I wish and disturbs my body clock to the point where I always feel exhausted. Also because of the shift there is no chance of me starting my own dojo, again......
- I had a dojo a few years back. I was in the "business" for all the wrong reasons (bad leadership from a former sensei). I realised this when I met my current sensei. I closed my dojo to develop myself. I MISS MY DOJO.
- I long for things that I cannot have, but will oneday.
- I long for things that I cannot have!!!
- I am 26
- I'm good but not that good

- I see quite a bit of my family (but don't always make the most of it)
- I sell some martial arts stuff on Ebay (books, weapons, etc) I love it and make a LITTLE money.

I have been thinking about my career (obviously) and if time allowed I would be a chiropractor. But you need to study full time, something that I am unable to do. I am considering alternative medicines that I can study part time. The careers I look at all seem to involve helping people. I HAVE DIRECTION, not much but a big step that will get me on my way.

This goes back to priorities. If you see something (like Chiropractic school) that will help you in the long run, even if you have to sacrifice some training in the short, go for it.

Every so often, reassess your priorities as far as your training in relation to other aspects. Try to find a good balance then stick with it, but continue to reassess from time to time to see if your needs have changed.

I believe that I have realised my biggest downfall - I think I am special!? Now I know that we are all special in our own way, but I believe that I am really special. Not in a big headed/ego type way, or snobby or anything. Just destined for........something. I think that if I can loose this train of thought and get on with life I may just get somewhere. Does anyone else feel this way?

Well, I think you're on the right track. You need to let go of that and get on with life. If you're destined for something, it will find you. Keep yourself open to opportunites so you don't miss your destiny, but don't go hunting it. If it's meant to happen, whatever it is, it will. And it will happen at the right time. If you go hunting it, you may find it before it's time and not recognize it. Or you may be out hunting when it's knocking at your door.


p.s
I would like to write a book oneday (obviosly a martial arts book, its all I know!)

LOL. Only one thing to do about that. Sit down and write :)

and I would like a copy of Persilats!!!

Just a note, it's "pesilat" not "persilat" :)

I hope that, someday, you'll be able to go out and buy a copy of my book :) Right now, I'm waiting to hear back from the most recent publisher I submitted it to.

Mike

[Telsun]

Many wise words from you yet again "pesilat"!

Sorry to offend I wondered if I had got that right when I was writing. An unfamiliar word, what does it mean? If you don't mind me asking. Incidentally Telsun is my nickname.

With extreme gratitude
Terry

[pesilat]

Originally posted by Telsun
Many wise words from you yet again "pesilat"!

Sorry to offend I wondered if I had got that right when I was writing. An unfamiliar word, what does it mean? If you don't mind me asking. Incidentally Telsun is my nickname.

With extreme gratitude
Terry

No offense taken and not a problem.

It's an Indonesian word that describes someone who trains in Silat.

I train in a lot of things, but Silat is at the core of what I do and train, so it seems fitting :)

Mike