JiuJiu recently had a great post about what you would tell your past self when first starting out in jiu jitsu. I thought I would write mine down here: feel free to comment with your own, or head over to her site and read what other people have to say to their past selves.
Dear 2006 Me,
So you’re just starting out in jiu jitsu, and you may/may not have just started judo as well: you’re tired, you feel all out of shape (well, because you are, which you know already), and awkward in class. This is completely out of your comfort zone, considering you hate the idea of someone watching you work out- because it may not be pretty, but no one can say you don’t commit to the task at hand.
But I have some great news for you: that hope you carry, those intangible goals that you aren’t sure will truly come to fruition but still carry in the back of your mind- that some day you’ll get better if you just keep working and trying your hardest, that you won’t feel so awkward, hell, that you’ll lose some of that weight you gained in college and get into better shape- they do happen. And you are going to feel so much better: physically, emotionally- and a beautiful side effect to all of this? Your insomnia will pretty much disappear. No more laying awake for 45 minutes to an hour hoping your brain decides to turn off. It’s a beautiful thing. Admittedly there are going to be some rough patches along the way: there will be times when you feel like you aren’t making any progress, when you feel like you’re nothing but all thumbs and nothing is going right. There will be times also when you have to make some hard decisions. But, you’ll persevere do what feels right for you, and continue on your jiu jitsu journey. Oh, and you’re going to start a blog about all of this: just ignore that anxious nausea you’re going to have for about a week when you start it up, because the whole thing does turn out pretty well. 😉
A Skirt on the Mat 