“Life before death, strength before weakness, journey before destination.”
These are lessons learned in Brandon Sanderson’s Stormlight Archives. Today, I want to focus on the journey part. I recently had the opportunity to rediscover everything stored in my closet, as the sagging support for the clothes bar gave out, dumping my clothes onto the floor early on April Fool’s morning. As I pulled everything out, I found my collection of karate belts, representing my first ten years studying martial arts.
I realize it’s hard to tell in this photo that about half the belts are split colors – there aren’t two orange belts side-by-side; there’s a yellow & orange belt between the yellow and the orange belts. That’s easier to notice on the red and blue belt, since the shade of blue is different from the solid blue next to it.
In a rare case of social media being helpful, I am frequently reminded of my martial arts journey on my Facebook account. Just opening the application, I’m likely to see a post by one of many friends I’ve made at various karate events, and Facebook’s reminders of photos shared on any particular day in the past frequently showcase a past test, tournament, or other time on the mat. Even the photo above reminders me of karate friendships; the snow leopard blanket (essential for protecting my sleeping feet from a ferocious toe-biting cat) was a gift from one of those friends.
Karate has never been about the destination for me; that suggests that at some point it will finish. Instead, it’s an ongoing journey filled with friendships that last a lifetime.