What taking the hit in karate taught me about blogging

Apr 9, 2008

What taking the hit in karate taught me about blogging - personal courage

NOTE! If you enjoy this post, please feel free to share and twitter it with the tinylink http://tinyurl.com/3u4nu6 . Thanks, I appreciate it!

Morning!

Have you ever embraced pain?

No, wait, nix that question, let me ask you this one instead:

"Have you ever been faced with imminent damage….and chosen to TAKE that hit because you knew the knowledge you’d gain would far offset any short-term undying soul-searing agony?"

Let me tell you, this is THE epitomy of character-building.

I was reminded of this earlier this month when I squared off against top notch fighters at my karate dojo. Now, you need to keep in mind the following:

I’m a mom of 4 in her 40s, the, ahem, most venerable woman there.
I never did martial arts extensively in my past, and am making up lost time.
Just about all of my fellow students are 1/2 my age.
9/10s are guys.
Did I mention 9/10s are truly superb fighters as well?

Over the past couple of weeks and months, I’ve discovered something extraordinarily fascinating about sparring and life in general.

Fear can truly paralyze you.

BUT! If you muster up the courage to face it…and conquer it…and put it behind you……

You will internalize gifts far stronger and more valuable than just about anything else you can imagine.

This is a lesson both beginner and experienced bloggers can take to heart. Quite often, you’ll be faced with a blank screen and wonder:

Why should I think what I write is important enough to read?
What if people ignore my blog?
What if my Feedburner stats are -34 and falling?

To that I say,

Why on earth should you care?

Stay with me here, the following is key. You are blogging for YOU. You, you and you. Perhaps you want to make money, perhaps you want to generate a following, perhaps you want to become a problogger…..whatever your purpose is, it’s FOR YOU.

Can you tell me one person (besides your loved ones) who is more important than YOU?

I surely can’t.

So if you’re the most important person in blogging to yourself, you owe it to yourself to challenge your boundaries and silence any little voice that might say

Who the heck am I to strive for greatness?

Sure, you might have to take a hit. Your post might be ridiculed. You might be drawn into a flamewar (but remember, in this case…it takes two to flame). You might feel like everyone else out there is laughing at your attempts.

So what?

You’re learning!

Who cares if others think you look or write like an utter fool?

Remember the opening to this post? Here I am, the mom in her 40s who looks pathetically adorable (to quote her daughter) in her sparring gear, going full contact with 20-something year old 5th degree blackbelts and being knocked on her rear, taking head shots right and left, and all in all, probably amusing the majority of the spectators.

So what!

Being forced to face my own fear (and let me tell you, going up against some of those fighters can produce an astonishing amount of utter blinding panic; I know, I’ve lived thru it) showed me that not only can I "take the hit", but I can rebound, learn, and improve dramatically for my abilities.

So! The next time you feel like the blogosphere is laughing at you, or that it’s hopeless, why continue, remember….TAKE THE HIT. Learn from it….and you’ll be astounded how much more confidence will suffuse your writing abilities.

ThankYouVeryMuch!

Owlbert

#BEGIN highlights of this blog writing post:

Beginners blogging tips: Don’t be afraid to fail.

Intermediate and/or Advanced blogging tips: Sing your own song! Give yourself permission to shine.

#END highlights of this blog writing post

Like this post? Please feel free to Digg It - I very much appreciate your time!

ps - Speaking about courage, have you seen:

pps - The book is even better!

Please click here to continue your search.

(By the way, if you have any questions about the topics in this posting "What taking the hit in karate taught me about blogging - personal courage", do comment below - I'll try to clarify any issues).

Barbara Ling and Owlbert

If you find this blog posting useful, please feel free to share it below. And do feel free to let your friends know about it as well....I very much appreciate your time!