Around 2013 I began to pursue my lifelong goal of achieving a black belt in karate. I found a school in town that taught Hapkido (karate) and began my journey. Since I had prior experience in martial arts, I expected a time frame of about 4 years to reach this goal. After 3 1/2 years I was one belt rank away from my goal and thought I could see the finish line.
Then I had a life-threatening pulmonary embolism, and everything came to a dead stop.
Due to other complications, I wasn’t able to engage in physical activity for about 9 months. Finally, I was cleared to return to my karate school. I expected a brief reorientation period but was confident that I would be back on track within a couple of months.
On my first day back, my instructor informed me that he was closing the school…I was stunned.
My (soon to be Ex-) instructor suggested that I approach a Hapkido school that operated about 45 miles away. Since the required training usually consisted of attendance 3-4 times per week, I wasn’t happy about the travel. Still, I figured it would be a matter of months and I would be back on track to achieve my goal.
When I arrived at the school, however, the instructor informed me that even though I had earned an advanced belt in Hapkido, to complete his program I would have to start from the beginning as a white belt and work my way through the ranks all over again.
I was sorely disappointed.
Despite my initial disappointment, I worked my way through all the ranks again and in 2020 finally earned my black belt in Hapkido. Ironically, I was very glad that I had to re-start from the beginning, because I learned so much more the second time around.
Any goal worth having is going to be fraught with adversities. When we have a clear vision and set goals it’s important to anticipate unpredicted challenges.
Work with determination, and if the goal is important enough, don’t allow yourself to be derailed. Don’t give up.
The very best to you.