The Life of a Samurai Is Not Easy

Saturday night my husband and I had a date night. We went to watch a UFC fight (this is full contact cage fighting for the uninformed). I know you might be thinking that is a unique and unusual date night. Ever since my husband has started karate he has gotten into mixed martial arts (watching, but not competing). So being the wonderful wife that I am I have watched a few things with him. And the way I become a fan of anyone who participates in professional sports is to become personally invested - not a team - but an individual. For example, I was a huge Joe Montana fan because he played at Notre Dame my favorite college when I was growing up. So there are a few fighters who I have become personally invested in. One of them is deaf and another one has the greatest nickname ever, "The Dean of Mean" Keith Jardine. So now let me get to the point. My husband's favorite fighter also has a cool nickname Lyoto "The Dragon" Machida. He is a karate black belt and since all my family are on a path to earn their black belts, it makes sense that he is my husband's favorite. Before we went out to watch the fight, my husband was watching a show where they were interviewing the Dragon. He said something that I found fascinating. He said that he had been training for 15 years (he is now 30) for a chance to win the world championship belt. Every morning he had to make the decision to get up out of bed and train or not, and he ended his interview with saying, "the life of a samurai was not easy".

Being a person who never really had any goals or ever dreamt of accomplishing anything great in her life before the last year, I found much encouragement realizing that the Dragon had the same decision that I make every morning - to get up and work out or not. A more important and eternal decision that I must make daily, however, is to walk the path that God has set before me each and every day. I have learned you don't just set out to accomplish great things unless you daily make that decision to get up and move forward towards accomplishing your greater goal, one tiny step at a time. And remember the life of the samurai is not easy or everyone would be one.

Stay on the path another day.