I’m competing in a Jiu-Jitsu competition tomorrow, and it’s the first formal competition I have entered since my last rugby game over a year ago. It's funny because throughout my entire playing career, the lead-up to the vast majority of them made me nervous to the point of feeling sick, and for the ones I wasn't nervous about, my performance was usually subpar.

Over the years, I learned to embrace these moments. Although I was never able to fully relax in anticipation, and I was almost overwhelmed by fear and anxiety, I also began to understand that the process was a state of preparation. It contributed to my growth and progress within myself.

It’s the first time I’ve felt this feeling in a long time, and one that ironically I have missed. Sometimes there are things in our lives that have been masked with fear and negative connotations, simply because of a surface-level emotion. When in fact, these moments are moments in time where we have actually formulated significant growth, and moments that deep inside are cherished and without realizing, missed.

I have always enjoyed competing, and I think it’s a deep instinctual driving force in all humans' growth to become more, find more purpose, fulfillment, and happiness. The feelings that drive us away, the feelings that create questioning within our minds and attempt to sway us from the path, must be embraced. Those feelings and emotions are actually fundamental drivers in challenge, fundamental contributing factors in us overcoming ourselves, fundamental contributing factors in the search for happiness.

Thanks,

Dean