Black Belt pt. 2

Tonight was my first official night at my training center as a real-deal blackbelt.  And it's funny to say ... perhaps it's just the look of the thing around my waist ... but it seems all different to me.  First of all, it's tight ... you have to loop it around your waist twice and it's super thick so it's quite snug.  perhaps it's just the symbolism of the whole thing that's got me thinking about it ... the training I've had to do, the moves I've had to learn and unlearn and then learn again the right way ... the times I wanted to take off and went regardless because it is a commitment ... the tired nights practicing and practicing over and over again the same patterns ... getting hurt and bruised, that part I actually felt was fun in some way :) ... the struggle of it all ... I think I've enjoyed the part about learning how far I can push my body and how I've learned to control my body and my emotions in the midst of it.  There has been so much value in it all.  I find that God speaks to me directly through the humbling process of getting kicked over and over again, something about the depths of this struggle of life we sometimes find ourselves in.  That there is great joy in the hard times and that when we are done with it and on a higher plain of thinking, it all makes sense and comes together like a puzzle.