No Excuses

There was an incident before class last night.

In the process of making supper (a veggie chili dish that was super delish and on par with my eating goals moving forward), I was tasked with chopping the vegetables.  This meal was one ordered from GoodFoods, and so I didn't directly do the shopping.

One of these vegetable was green peppers.  After chopping, I noticed that the cuticle of my thumb was hurting and was red and swollen.  I thought maybe some onion juice had gotten in there and irritated it...since that was sort of what it felt like.  I ended up sucking my thumb to relieve the pain (I know that might sound weird but that's what we tend to do when we injure a finger...I swear!!)....and HOLY TOLEDO, my mouth was on fire!!!  It took me a moment to realize that those green peppers were NOT green peppers, but were, in fact, poblanos.  Which are described as a "mild" pepper by google.  Yeah right.  I like spicy but these were insane!!  I hadn't even eaten a piece....and my mouth was on fire from trace amounts left on my thumb AFTER already washing them with soap and water!!  Needless to say, I was a bit worried about supper.  But it turned out that they were much milder in the dish.

Later on, as I was getting ready to go to class, I went to put my contacts in...and had forgotten about the peppers.  I thought I was going to go blind.  My eye was burning!!!  There was STILL residual pepper on my hands!!  I couldn't open my eye and had to pry it open...with the same fricking tainted fingers that had caused this in the first place.  I'm pretty sure those contacts are toast....like burnt toast.

Even today, I've "tested" my thumb and it is still making my mouth burn.  This is crazy.

Anyways, long story long...

When I realized that I wouldn't be able to wear contacts to class, my first thought was not going.  I was a bit annoyed at my circumstances and I absolutely hate wearing my glasses during physical activity.  In case you haven't noticed...I tend to sweat alot.  And they end up sliding down my face and fogging up all the time.  It's very aggravating and distracting.  Unfortunately, I'm basically legally blind without them, so going without isn't an option.  So in my head, it feels like I just CAN'T do things under those circumstances.  Which is obviously not true....it's more that I just don't want to.

So I quickly thought better of it and came wearing my glasses anyways.  What a silly excuse that would have been.  If my eye doctor suddenly told me that I couldn't wear contacts...would that mean I wouldn't practice Kung Fu anymore?  Or if I was sneak-attacked on a regular day in a back alley, while wearing my glasses, would I not be able to defend myself??  Come on....

It was actually that last thought that got me thinking about how there could potentially be value in training outside of our "ideal" circumstances.

If I can't wear my contacts for some reason...maybe this will help me learn what might happen with slippery/foggy glasses as a limitation or hinderance...

If I am running late and don't have time to get home to get my uniform....maybe this will help me learn how things might be different in regular street clothes...

If I am simply tired or rundown...maybe this will help me learn how my abilities and focus might be affected and how I might handle that...

These are all akin to training with an injury or during recovery.  There is value in training with limitations or under circumstances outside our norms.  Instead of making these excuses to not train...we could make them a reason to train differently.

So even if there seems to be a "valid" reason for not attending class....I'm going to start asking myself...

"Could this circumstance actually offer some insights if I attempt to train anyways?"

I have a feeling the answer will always be yes.

On a side note...here's what I found with my glasses...

• As expected, they started fogging up right away.  This became a challenge when trying to acquire my target during spinning back kicks.  
• I found myself frustrated when they began sliding down.  There always seemed to be a little bit of my focus pulled towards that and away from what my intent should have been.
• Sounds silly, but they were definitely a distraction.  I don't think it's the worst idea to simply train with them so that eventually they aren't.