There are times where I’m not quite sure what to write. I’ve talked about it before, but much like any other problem or challenge. Talking about it can make it seem a little smaller, but it doesn’t actually make it suddenly better.

Though, wouldn’t that be absolutely amazing if talking about small issues just made them up and go away? A good heart to heart repairs bad credit. A soul-searching conversation over coffee settles an illness and revealing a deep dark secret definitely approves you for that home loan. Heck, maybe a heartfelt haiku could actually find your true love! If we’re going for the ridiculous,  might as well set our sights high and wide!

And now for something completely different…

Yesterday I was in Springfield, MO at the Ozark Mountain Nationals and it was a whole bunch of fun and then a little more. Over the last month I’ve had a demo, an in-house tournament, several amazing instructors come up to teach at our yearly boot camp and three weeks ago I was in Orlando, FL at the U.S. Open which was as much fun as TWO barrels of monkeys (for the inquiring mind, that’s a lot of monkeys).

I could tell all of you the results and the nitty gritty details of all the tournaments and how I did, suffice to say I managed to wrangle a 4th place at the U.S. Open, something that I’m actually proud about. And yesterday I didn’t do half shabby either, netting a 1st, 2nd, and a 3rd. I just wanted all the medals, really.

Finally, throughout all of this, I’ve been working on all the amazingly small yet indescribably important details of moving an entire business from one building, to a completely different building.

This is apparently known as “growth.”

Since there’s been so very much, let’s jump in headfirst and attack them all in no particular order.

First, I got a haircut.

That is all.

I also got my diploma for my Master’s! I can’t remember if I mentioned this before, but the beginning of July is a haze of no sleep, travel, and more karate than should be reasonably expected of anyone. So, if this is a repeat, apologies. If not, you’re welcome?

And then there is absolutely everything else.  Over the last few months, I’ve been at something of a dearth of what to write. With all the amazingness going on there have been some truly great and original thoughts that I completely failed to take advantage of and never actually wrote any of them down.

Whoops.

But, there has also been a lot of time in transit from point A to point B, C, D, all the way to Q. And in those times of forced quiet time I’ve been able to think and reflect. Watching the flat of Illinois go by on a bus let my mind wander about how lucky I am to have to have the opportunities I do. Wandering some rolling highway in Indiana led me to the realization that I love (still) the quiet joy of travel and exploration.

On the flip side, missing a flight in Orlando and listening to a small girl scream “Let it Go” through my hangover while trying to explain to the Delta attendant on the phone that I cannot turn the music down on the Disney bus, though there were no words to properly express the intensity of my desire to do so, brought home the fact that this life is quite the adventure, and even the downs, after a little distance, are pretty funny.

And finally making my wife crack up with genuine laughter first thing this morning reminded me I somehow managed to marry my best friend and I seem to be keeping my sense of humor throughout all the crazy.

Basically, every adventure, misadventure (looking at you SMA crew), crazy story, missed flight, pulled muscle and random bruise is a reminder the path I seem to have stumbled upon is the right one. It has its share of trials and tribulations, sure. But also has more than it’s share of joy and laughter. Which, when you get right down to it, is absolutely the way it should be.

Moving forward, there are going to be all the crazy mistakes and wrong turns that inevitably happen. But it’s the people that I manage to meet. It’s the phone calls with my parents disgustingly early (Dad) or stupid late (Mom). It’s the morning training sessions with Sensei Sharkey and the random conversations with Sensei Weinberg. It’s the friends I make at events and the wonderful people I work with that make everything have that extra spin and sparkle.

I try and tell the best stories here and let all you readers in on snippets of what I got going on in the hope it’ll be interesting and at least make you crack a smile. But it’s really everyone else in my life that makes the whole thing go around.

So, cheers, friends!

It’s really all of you that make everything I do worth it, so thank you.