karate chop from the soul

Were his ideas that good? Was it his handsome, yet casual appearance? Dude had me at "Refugee Camp." Tried as I could, I was unable to poke a hole in his mental karate. Yes, you read it correctly mental karate. I need this in my life, even more so than I need/ought to implement Mawi's ideas with my students. I was taught in Graduate School (for Education) to be weary, leery and righteously freaked out by motivational speakers and character education. I am. So is Mawi. And yet, it is his life work. hmmm. Mental Karate. To earn my "white belt" I must . . . take initiative.

Initiative is lonely thing for a newly-single co-dependent like me. It hurts. It's like starting a research paper on a topic you dislike. and are afraid of. I just spend so much time in this cycle of self-hating that the fact that I put Tuesday's dishes away on Wednesday evening felt like an accomplishment. Then it didn't, because it's just doing some basic housekeeping that my peers do without fanfare or much thought. I almost quit twice. Not because I had been distracted (which I often am), but because I just don't like doing stuff alone. If I had a friend on the phone with me at the time, I would have finished the dishes and folded laundry. What goal do I set for myself, for my white belt--something attainable, yet not completely within reach without my taking the inital steps necessary. And how will I do this? Will you hold me accountable? Will you smash up this mental karate thing instead and stop my progress or send me in another direction? Will it be right for me? Mental Karate. sounds and feels wrong. But I still feel I need this guidance. I am eager to read Mawi's memoir--Of Beetles and Angels. He signed it for me and it turns out he ran track against a friend of mine in high school, the shaggy blond-haired one. He loves the lake by our old track.