At the beginning of every year, I always set goals to achieve for the upcoming year. Whether they are personal, fitness goals or crossing off ideas on my Bucket List. My Bucket List is more like a Bucket Book. I have so many outrageous ideas that I want to accomplish in my life. I am always adding new ideas when I cross off ones that I have completed. My ideal year would consist of at least 3 vacations per year and one of those vacations would be off of my Bucket List. Sometimes that doesn’t always happen and sometimes I exceed that goal. My type of work is very physically demanding and I think it is very important to not only work hard, but to play hard aka take as many vacations as I can afford.
One of my favourite quotes is from Dr. Seuss, Oh The Places You’ll Go! ” You have brains in your head. You have feet in your shoes. You can steer yourself any direction you choose. You’re on your own. And you know what you know. And YOU are the one who’ll decide where to go…”
It’s funny how a children’s book can still keep me motivated to travel and to do things I wouldn’t normally do. This quote alone reminds me to step out of my “Comfort Zone.” I’ve done a lot of different, cool and sometimes unusual things in my life. I basically want to be remembered as someone who really lived their life to it’s fullest potential. When friends or family who know me or people who have met me, I want to leave a lasting impression that they will tell stories about me even when I’m not around. Ever since I was a child I would talk about things I wanted to try that nobody else would. Being an adult now…well I may be an adult by age but I’m really a kid at heart. I have lived a really great existence. I have travelled to many places and participated in numerous activities. Maybe it’s the only child in me, but to me the most important thing is to “Be Different.” Whether it was learning how to ride a unicycle, teaching myself how to make balloon animals, being a break dancing mascot, taking Highland dancing lessons, playing Roller Derby, participating in a bikini fitness shows, going Sky Diving, learning how to box etc. If it was outrageous and totally out there it was for me. I’ve never wanted to blend in with the crowd. I wanted to be able to stand up on my own two feet and experienced life the way I wanted. Without doubt, judgements or fear! I don’t care what others think of me. People tell me “I’m crazy” all the time. It doesn’t offend me. I’d rather be crazy than be boring. I’m too extraordinary to live an ordinary life. The people who really know me, understand me and just get me.
Fast forward to now. Reading that word and just saying that word out loud “NOW” is a constant reminder to live in the present. Yes I have accomplished a lot of adventures in my past which has helped the growth of my future. But one can never forget to Live in the Now! I absolutely love life. I love everyone who has taught me, encouraged me, guided me, empowered me, taken care of me and anyone who has been a straight up inspiration in life. Sometimes I don’t make the best decisions, probably because I am always making decisions from the heart. It’s not always the best choice. My heart will always trump my brain and my guts. Being that said sometimes I should listen to my brain or to others when I make decisions. I’ll blame being an only child but usually when someone tells me I cannot do something or it isn’t a good idea…it makes me want to do it even more. So I can turn around and say “Oh yah watch me!”
As I’ve mentioned how much I love to travel. I thoroughly enjoy solo travel. Don’t get me wrong I do love to travel with friends and family. But nothing is more satisfying than travelling solo. Being able to bang to beat of my own drum. Doing something that I want to do versus what everyone else wants to do. If you have never travelled solo, I would highly recommend it. Your soul will Thank You. I have travelled a few destinations by myself and the after effects last a lifetime. Maybe I’m still riding on cloud 9 or it could be the jet lag but I’m still feeling the affects of my most recent vacation to Thailand. My goal is to learn how to fight and yes I would like to get in the ring and fight someone someday. I have been asked that a millions times and the answer is always the same. I have been training with boxing for a couple years now. I love it and wouldn’t turn back. My training at Clancy’s Boxing Academy is my ultimate dream training gym. But I’ve always wanted to learn Muay Thai. It’s always been in the back of my mind to learn. I’ve never been given the opportunity to try it. Back in September I was looking for a retreat. I wanted to bring in the New Year on healthy note. I was originally looking at yoga meditation retreats but somehow stumbled onto martial arts retreats. Of course I was curious. What’s that expression “curiosity killed the cat?” well my thinking would be “What doesn’t kill you makes you stronger!” So my search was on. I went through pages and pages of different types of training. Finally I came across several Muay Thai training camps in Thailand. I kept going back to those pages. My heart, brain and gut were actually agreeing for once. I was having a WTF! moment. I sat back and thought for a minute “Do I really want to do this?” and then sat up straight in my chair and said “Fuck ya I do!” So I sent two gyms emails about the training at their location. All I had to do was sit back and see who would reply first. Both locations included accommodation, meal plan and of course Muay Thai training. If I was going to do this I had to go for at least 2 weeks. Travelling that far you need at least 2 weeks to settle in with the jet lag and getting used to the extreme heat conditions. Coming from Canada I was just happy to be getting away from the extreme cold ass weather that hurts my face. The one gym replied to my email right away. It was actually pretty scary how fast they replied, like it was truly meant to be. The other gym replied within a couple days. So that already put me off of choosing their location. I asked millions of questions because I have never done anything like this before. I wanted to #1 make sure it was safe, #2 I would get the proper training #3 I wouldn’t get hurt too badly. I went back and fourth and sat on the decision for at least a week. I kept having internal fights with my brain and guts. My heart kept saying “Girl you got this! Don’t worry. If there’s anything that can be done…you can do it!” My brain and my guts were trying to defeat me by filling me with doubt and fear. I really thought through the pros and cons and once the wheels of motion were turning I shut all the cons up by just booking the trip. “How will I know if I don’t try? Why not now?”
Well I ‘m happy to say I survived 2 weeks of Muay Thai training at Por Silaphai Gym in Chiang Mai Thailand. The training consisting of 2 two hour training sessions in an outdoor training gym. It was everything I could ask for and more. Including all the bruises to my legs, blisters on my feet, punches to my face and kicks in my ass. I literally got my ass kicked and got up and kept taking more. I loved meeting all walks of people from all over the world. The staff were incredible and made learning fun. I think my favourite part about travelling is all the new people I get to meet and learning about how they live their lives. I would most definitely do something like this again. I would recommend anyone else who has ever wanted to learn something new or do something different to just do it! I did what I wanted to do even though it scared the shit out of me. I started 2017 off on a healthy note and it’s no stopping from here on out. I plan to continue Muay Thai training now that I’m back in Canada alongside my boxing training. I’m going to be a lethal weapon from now on. Thank You to everyone who has ever supported me and my crazy decisions. Thank You to all those who also didn’t support me haha your negativity pushed me to do what you said I couldn’t do. Thanks to the Universe for always making my dreams come true. Ps always listen to your heart…fuck ya!
Information:
Clancy’s Boxing Academy
http://www.clancysboxingacademy.com
Por Silaphai Gym
Book Martial Arts
http://www.bookmartialarts.com
*images taken from internet and personal photos of myself*
Memoirs of an Emotional Fish 