day 20: be in the moment

hello hello hello!!! i hope everyone is doing well and lets get into it!!

as many of you know, i do taekwondo. two summers ago, when we were in istanbul, my dad found a sports therapist for my brother and i, to essentially help unlock our full potential. and just to let you know, this sports therapist isn't just some random lady, she's coached many professional athletes, so you kinda know that she is good at her job.

one of the main things that she kept on reiterating to me during our sessions, was to be in the moment. 

after she pointed it out, i started to notice myself quite a lot more. my mindset was to go for the gold, but i never really thought of the process in getting there. i was always thinking about the result instead of the process, which was what i should have been focused on. subconsciously, i was thinking about winning. nothing else. i didn't visualize my matches or warming up, unless my parents actually forced me to do so.

i started to notice it in my day to day life as well. i would always be excited for the next birthday party or the next musical i would attend, but wouldn't actually soak up the moments that i was in. i was constantly just thinking about the future, which i'm not saying is a bad thing, but i wasn't living out these experiences to the fullest. 

my dad called me out on it a few times as well. i usually help out at my taekwondo dojang on fridays for our sparring class, which is at 5:30-6:30. one day, i was going out with my friends to watch a musical at our high school at 7:00 and told my master that i would have to leave by 6:45. my dad had told me not to say that because it just shows that i didn't want to be there at all. i said it anyways and my master replied, confused, saying that we would end before then and i wouldn't have to worry about it.  i was just too excited and didn't appreciate the fact that i get to help kids improve during this class, which i love.

now, i've started to focus more on every single moment and soak up every emotion because our lives are too short to not be in the moment. this has made me feel so much more grounded and made me appreciate my time more. from hanging out with my friends or going out to lunch with my family, i now don't take these moments for granted. 

what you should take away from today is to live in the moment (if you couldn't already tell). enjoy the laughs, cries, and even enjoy the soreness from practice because one day you won't be able to feel those things, but you will be able to re-tell the stories about your collection of experiences. have a fantastic rest of your day and i'll catch you on the next one!!

don't wish for it, work for it.