A salute to the forests

We are at war with the trees, and fortunately for us, we have been losing.  Eventually however, through attrition, we will be victorious. With our hands held high, we will scream our victory with our final breath as we know it.

The ability of the forest ecosystem to respond to our complete neglect is astounding, but there is a tipping point.  For every road that is built, for every parking lot paved, the land base that supports our life is eroded.  Up until recently the sheer volume of vegetated land on the planet has ensured our wonderfully wasteful standard of living.

This weekend we give a salute to the trees in the festival of trees.  It is a small and very tiny step in the right direction for giving credit to something as wonderful as the forests of this planet.

November 20, 2016

Sling shots and wasp nests.  Mousetraps and kittens. Boys, cow pies and gulf clubs. These could be called recipes for disaster.  Most anything successful however, follows a recipe for success.  In most cases it isn’t a matter of reinventing the light bulb, success really should be as simple as following what others have proven to work already.

That being said, I have found that self-made recipes; or those that were concocted by our own trials and failures seem to be the easiest to follow.  Maybe it’s because they are crafted to our tastes and in our language, or maybe it’s just because we are more apt to follow something that we fought hard to figure out.  In any case, lately I have found that going back to those hard earned lessons are important to getting back on track.

The easiest example, and one I shared at the meeting, was the process of blogging.  My recipe requires a note book carried in my vehicle (most frequent place of work) to jot items that come to mind through the week. I require an alarm to go off during blogging morning as a reminder of required preparation and reminder that evening. I need to set time aside to read my teammates blogs.  That serves to both keep up with my teams success, and stimulate blog juices.

Every challenge of the I Ho chuan has a recipe for success. Coming up with a cookbook seems to be a combined process of taking ingredients from the team, but never leaving out that which you have worked hard to figure out on your own.

 

A Case of Misdirected Success

The path to success in developing mastery has always been routed in positive life changes that are sustainable. 2016 was a difficult year for our family on many fronts.  From job loss, to family health issues, challenges with learning needs of our kids, 2016 has had diversity.  In the aftermath of grading and promotion in Kung Fu, it is easy to look back and think that timing could not have been worse.  But that just wouldn’t be true.

There is a possibility that I approached things wrong in 2016, but I often felt that I was in a period of catch up.  There has been a growing list of items over the last several years that had been starved of my attention.  Those items really didn’t present themselves until I stood back from things and had a look at the bigger picture.  Achieving my goals was often at the expense of others, and that is not sustainability. 

2016 may have seen missed opportunities on some fronts, but wild successes on others.  Here is what I mean: 

My wife tackled the near death (leg 1 and 2) of the Canadian death race.  This is a marathon distance but through mud, up mountains, roots, rocks, forest. Her perseverance in the run blew me away even after 13 years of marriage. I couldn’t have been more proud.

The outdoor education center at camp Teepee pole was a smashing success.  (A big shout out to Brandon Regier and Stephanie for their help on this one).  The camp utilized the facility to teach campers of fish preservation in an outstanding presentation by Trout Unlimited. Good things are going to come from this in the future.

I spent more quality time with my dad than I have ever this past year.  That is time and memories that can never be taken away.

My son moved to a school that addressed his dyslexia (that would be irony if I spelled that wrong wouldn’t it?)  Leaving his friends, comfort and familiarity on his own will because he wanted to read.  His teacher has said his motivation and drive is extremely rare.

Our plight toward mastery in the I Ho Chuan is designed to show positive effects in our lives and the ones around us. If those fruits are not recognized, it may be wise to question whether they are sustainable.

This leads to the question, if our quest for mastery can’t be shared with the world, why on earth are we doing it at all?

November 11

November 11^th.  Our family crammed into West Edmonton Mall for the November 11^th ceremony today.  People of all ages, all ethnicities, there to remember. 

Remembrance of my great grandfathers and uncles that wrote from the front of WWII.  Letters written in anxiousness, loneliness and fear that no matter how many times I read, bring tingles and shivers to my spine.

Remembrance to my wife’s family who were forced to flee Chile and who lost brothers, husbands, and uncles in the Coup of 1973 when standing up for democracy in the presence of dictatorship corruption and power. 

Remembrance of Cpl. Andrew Eyklenboom who died in Afghanistan on August 11, 2006.  The first Canadian medic to lose his life since the Korean war.  To our friends, Gordon and Steven, our family will not forget what your brother sacrificed for our freedom.

The debt of gratitude that all Canadians have to our veterans can’t adequately be expressed.  To those men and women that serve today, and to those that have served in times past….we thank you.