Puzzle Me

One summer when I was a kid, my parents signed me up for a bowling league. I didn't really know how to bowl when I started, but I learned quickly. I ended up winning several awards, including highest score. However, the award that always made me feel the happiest was "Most Improved". I couldn't keep the ball out of the gutter for the first couple weeks, and it drove me crazy. So I worked hard to understand what I was doing wrong and correct it. Once I conquered bowling to my satisfaction, I didn't feel the need to do it anymore, and I have rarely bowled since.

I don't know if I'll ever deserve the most improved award in Jiu-Jitsu, but the challenge of not really being able to do it when I started is part of what interested me, and I have come so far that I barely recognize my former self.  Yet no matter how much I improve, so much of it still remains a complete mystery to me.

I think one of the best things about Jiu-Jitsu is that I'm sure even if I keep training for the rest of my life, I will never master it to my satisfaction. It will never get boring, and I will never get tired of trying to improve. It will always be a beautiful, complex puzzle that motivates me to push myself beyond my comfort zone.

"It is one of man's curious idiosyncrasies to create difficulties 

for the pleasure of resolving them." - Joseph de Maistre