hubby puts it in perspective

Stevesgirl started this discussion · 6/20/2011

Hi All, I - like some of you - have been unhappy with my progress (or lack thereof) wth poling.🙁 I spoke of my problem with my dear hubby. He really put things into perspective for me - he compared poling to karate. He told me that no one becomes a black belt within a month or two of starting karate. Karate students go through the belts - white, yellow, orange, blue, purple, brown and THEN black. And once they get to black, there are varying degrees of black belts. We only have 3 levels - beginer, intermediate and advanced so there is a longer way to go and more more things to learn before you move onto a new level. It made me realize that yes, this is a HARD sport (allbeit FUN!) and it will take time to work up strength, stamina and technique. He reminded me of what I can do now that I could not do even one month ago (like I can now do 2 sets of 8 reps of pushups - I have NEVER been able to do even one pushup before!) I AM making progress. I think I'm going to give myself a "belt" each time I do something new - pole sit gives me a "pink belt", a crucifix gives me a "red belt" and so on (or maybe instead of a "belt" I should get a stiletto shoe? 🥂). Happy poling everyone and remember - you ARE doing great!!!

2 replies

LoneStarDiva · 6/20/2011
Progress IS progress, and it's always at YOUR chsen speed! You may see from my older posts (3 mos. or so is all I've been amember and 'poling'!) that I just stubbornly made up my mind to DO this. It isn't easy (and yes.. THAT'S the fun of it!) because WHEN you accomplish something - it's MAJOR! ;) None of us learned to walk, or talk, or a hundred other things the EASY way.. there is no easy way in life - and for those that take the "easy road'... I am sad for them.; In the infamous words of my beloved Nickleback: "Don't take the Free Ride in Your Own Life - What's worth the prize is always worth the fight! :):):):):):) - (from "If Today Was Your Last Day) ;) Best wishes in your 'climb' - and congrats on the realization of 'eating the elephant 'one bite at at ime'! :)
BACE16 · 6/20/2011
That is a fantastic analogy. I did karate for like 13 years, took me 10 to hit black belt. When I taught it was always so funny when parents would ask why I didn't promote their kid yet, because they aren't ready! And besides how would you feel if someone gave you a black belt and you knew you couldn't fight out of a wet paper bag? Its harder to cheat with pole than karate, but its possible. And don't beat yourself if progress is "slow." Some of my slowest white to yellow belt students zipped through the later ranks because they had a tougher time in the beginning.