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Category:
Published: December 2006
Drawing from his own personal experience, Brian Miller, explains the necessity of change.
There are so many ways that an individual can express courage in their life, but we will be focusing on one specific form of courage in this article. This specific type of courage involves the process of making changes in your life. Change can be a daunting task for some of us, but learning to cope with the stress of change can enhance one's quality of life forever.
On a grander scale, if our founding fathers were not interested in change, our Declaration of Independence would not have been established and the beginning of Democracy in our country may never have taken place. And of course, just recently, the American People took advantage of our democracy and stood up for change in the recent election.
People who are willing to peer into future and see a better life for themselves and the people of this world, who are willing to fight for those changes with passion, represent someone with true courage.
Charles Dubois once said when speaking of courage, "The important thing is this: To be able at any moment to sacrifice what we are for what we could become." As we age, we settle more and more into the lifestyle that we have established for ourselves. Life can become routine, repetitive and sometimes boring. Taking risks can be difficult, challenging and scary at times, but without risks, there are not rewards. I got stuck in a routine of your typical 9-5, going home, relaxing, maybe going to the gym, or just watching television. Then one day, I was just fed up with the routine, it wasn't healthy, it wasn't fun, and it started to get boring. I began to realize that I wanted something different. I wanted a better life for myself and one that was more exciting, rewarding and could make a difference in our great community.
A friend of mine was running a Tae Kwon Do school in Clifton Park, and I stopped in to speak with him about taking lessons again. I had trained for 8 years when I was a child. I tried it out, and as soon as I stepped foot on his mats, it felt like I got a part of my life back that had been missing for some time. Within weeks, I was back to training 4 or 5 times a week and felt my mind clearing up, my body was getting back into shape and I felt all around better about myself and the world around me. I was able to cope with stress better because of our discussions about self control and different types of coping mechanisms, as well as the stress relief that comes from a martial arts class.
Today, I am the proud owner of Cutting Edge Tae Kwon Do in the West Hill Plaza in Saratoga Springs, NY. Looking back, I never thought that I was one that had a whole lot of courage, but I feel like I would not be where I am right now without it. We have about 135 students right now, a beautiful 5000 square ft, state of the art facility and we have only been open for 2 years. Over the past 2 years, we have hosted 3 local tournaments, participated in a world record for most boards broken in one hour as part of a fundraiser for underprivileged children, collected food for the Regional Food Bank, introduced a new an exiting new style of martial arts to our curriculum, Combative Hap Ki Do, hosted 9 Belt Exams and Belt Ceremonies, created exciting Demonstrations, and most importantly, offer a fun, exciting, and challenging environment designed to enhance the quality of our community. With courage, compassion, determination, and perseverance, it is impossible to fail!
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