Stepping Up the PAIN!

Last night was another class in our ZSBC experience.  Sifu had a lecture session on "Who are the (5) people you hang around the most and what effect do they have on you?"  To tell you the truth, you can answer this really flippantly, but our task was to really analyze it and recognize the impact it has on our lives.  The bottom line I took away from this session was that you have a choice to associate with almost anyone in the world.  The quality of the people you choose to associate with can help determine your mental stability and success in life.  Even when it comes to your family, you have the choice to limit your interaction with those who do not contribute to your well being or grow closer to those to whom you draw strength from.  Remember that this a mutual benefit type of arrangement as well.  You will find in life that the people that want to associate with you may see you as a source of strength, but you as an individual need to determine if you are getting what you need from the same relationship.  The correct balance of a relationship is when both parties are getting what they need from each other.  Are there draw backs, hiccups, or crap you have to filter through?  You betcha, but what relationship does not have that?  What we have to learn is how to filter the bad things in order to see if the good things are beneficial.

So after that introspective discussion, it was on with the PAIN!  Last class Sifu had us fill out surveys of the program.  To my surprise he went over the results with us before class.  It was interesting to see a split in how people viewed the workouts, but never the less George certainly took them to heart and adapted accordingly.  It was relay race time again, which is always a fun and supportive event in ZSBC.  He split the room up into 3 levels of pain that we voluntarily classified ourselves into: Blue Cones (Insane), Orange Cones (Mostly Sane), and White Cones (Most Sane).  Each level had a non stop work out that was geared for our level of physical fitness.  This is what the majority wanted in the class.  The people that wanted a good sweat got one and the people that wanted to really push themselves, REALLY GOT PUSHED!  Like always, everyone was supportive with clapping and cheering-on their fellow competitors.  I don't think the ZSBC would have the same effect with out that sense of fellowship that has grown since the beginning of the program.  We are all in this together.

Right now, I have a date with some Advil Liquid Gel Caps (my mistress these days). I look forward to next week and I hope you all will as well.