Yin vs YangThe Battle for Success in Life

Article by Peter J. Normandia. Follow me on Twitter.

As many of you know, I train and teach Brazilian Jiu Jitsu (BJJ) for a Royler Gracie affiliate. All of the lessons I have learned in BJJ mirror my real life. Jiu Jitsu is like a small sample of life’s lessons right on the mat. It is why I always learn a little something about myself almost every class I attend.

At each BJJ class, after warm-ups, a certain move, or series of moves are taught to the class by the Instructor. We call these ‘The Move of the Day.’ The Instructor will breakdown the move(s), showing us the nuances of the technique, and then the students will work with a partner at perfecting it.  Read more... (1006 words, 3 images, estimated 4:01 mins reading time)

Everyone has heard a story, read a book, or seen a movie in which they wanted to be just like the main character.  Maybe not exactly like them, but there were those one or two qualities that you admired greatly.  For me, it was Rocky.  I think it was because most of the times, I felt like an underdog. Therefore, I wanted to be the underdog who overcomes every odd on his way to victory.

The reason I bring this up is because many of us are not comfortable with another kind of main character: ourselves.  Life is all about making decisions and sometimes we make the wrong choices.  Sometimes we make mistakes.  Sometimes we make really BIG mistakes.  However, so does everyone else.  It is called being human.  Read more... (657 words, 1 image, estimated 2:38 mins reading time)