Dragon boating, Shrove Tuesday and the Year of the Goat
This blog is for any of you who have started something with grit, determination and drive only to find that it has petered out, maybe even to the point of you giving up.
The year starts well for many of us, with plenty of ideas and resolutions and plans and decisions to make changes. Diets start, gym regimes start and other great plans too. Maybe you decide not to let work overtake your life, to spend more time in the fresh air, or read more or to learn a new skill.
Then suddenly you find it’s February and things are dragging a bit. Well here is a chance to reboot and reset. For me the term came in quite different circumstances. In a dragon boat to be precise.
It was a Sunday morning training session and we were down on numbers in our boat, 12 of us in a 20 person boat paddling upstream and the flow was fast. It was like paddling through treacle. The good technique had long gone and the session, for me, became more about getting to the weir (where we turned round). Muscles ached, arms hurt and breath was short. Then I remembered a fellow paddler saying reset, reboot yourself and remind yourself what you know. This requires a momentary break in what you are doing. It’s not a rest or a skive or a relax or a giving up, it’s a reset. So I sat up, filled my lungs with air again and thought about each part of the stroke. I repositioned myself in the boat and got back to the technique. At no point did I give up.
I have many thoughts during dragon boat training and racing which relate to other parts of life! It makes sense to reset or reboot sometimes especially if things are getting tough.
So what’s the relevance of Shrove Tuesday or Chinese New Year? Both of these happen In February and it seems to me that whether or not you are a follower of the Christian faith or a celebrator of Chinese New Year, it is a timely marker for resetting your goals and determination and a chance to remind yourself why you started in the first place.
On the horizon is Spring Equinox- 20th March in the UK and the clocks go forwards on 29 March this year. Another chance to reset yourself!
Fancy a go at dragon boating? Click here www.bristolempiredragons.com
If you are finding you have lost the motivation and want to get back to your original goals then do get in touch!
Tel: 07501817739
email: nicolashelleycoach@gmail.com