My life today was jam packed with numerous people that are honestly making me a better person and perhaps many of them don't even know it. These days I've been really trying hard to become a more positive person, not only for my own state of mind and personal well-being but because my job of coaching and running Hulk's is as tied to the health and fitness industry as it is the service industry. Every day I am surrounded by a club full of Hulkies so becoming more positive is very much because of my personal life as well as my business life, which anyone who knows me knows those two are quite intermingled. I don't want to be one of those in-your-face, overly happy people... you know, the kind of annoyingly happy person that thinks everything is roses and lollipop-sweet, the kind of person you just want to kick in the head and tell them to give up the show. I just really want to be more positive because I used to be a big sceptic -- a sceptic of everything and everyone -- and I don't want to ever become that person again.
Even after ten years of being here in Korea and doing my thing with boxing for so long, there are still those days when I feel like I'm going against more than I can handle. There are definitely moments when I feel like no one could ever understand me, days when I just want to run away, days when I feel like me trying so hard at what I am doing is completely pointless. There's Korea with it's mixed emotions about women in boxing and how my in-laws just "love" that (that's sarcasm there for you if you didn't catch it). Friends who don't understand why I do it and others that think I haven't grown up because I still love it.
I finally feel like I'm at a point in my life though that I AM surrounded by such a positive crew of people and today I really stepped back and took a look at who supported me today.
Every weekend Rocket and I head out to Asan for our weekly long run. Today we headed out for our long run. Snickers drove us out to the location and then waited for us to finish our run. He then drove Rocket home and picked me up lunch (my weekly reward for my long run). Honestly, he really doesn't have to drive us out there, I mean we definitely appreciate it however it means he has to not only be in town on his day off and also wake up early. And as for Rocket, her fiance supports her in that he makes sure she gets up and out the door to meet up with me. Rocket is a much more experienced runner than me so she too doesn't really have to commit to running with me but she does and she definitely pushes me during the run.
No sooner did Snickers and I drop off Rocket but then one of my personal sponsors messaged me to ask me about my game plan for my marathon training. Arrived back to Hulk's and who should be waiting to ask me about my run but my other sponsor, Wow. "Shower and let's eat!" he told me so that's exactly what I did. He then took Snickers and I to one of my favourite meat restaurants across town.
And the list of people who supported me today doesn't end there.
There were of course the handful of sweet strangers around the Asan lake who shouted out words of encouragement, gave us random high fives and even tried to spark up short conversations as we did our laps around the lake. They'll never know just how encouraging their sweetness and recognition gives me, gives us. Today I randomly decided to give both of the Hulk Smash bracelets away to random people at the lake who had really inspired me. The first was a group of three foreign guys we passed several times. The first time we passed, we simply exchanged smiles, but with every lap we passed them the interaction grew. Finally, on our last lap, I asked them if they were new to Asan and then tossed them my green Hulk Smash jelly bracelet. I gave my pink jelly bracelet to a young Korean lady who was also running. When I realized she had reached out to high five me it was too late, I had already passed her, so I decided to call out to her the next time we passed. When she turned to look at me, I then shot the jelly bracelet at her like it were an elastic. The next time we passed, she stopped in the path, lifted up the sleeve of her jacket and yelled out "look... Hulk's Boxing". It proved to be quite the effective PR move on my part but it was also pretty fun seeing their reactions. It's like we were instantly buddies or something. I think perhaps I should do this more often, shot Hulk Smash jelly bracelets at random strangers who cheer me on as I slave through a long run... hahaha.
Later on today I sat down to write out more of the 41 thank you cards that will be hitting the mailboxes worldwide and I stopped to look at them all, reread over all the names on the envelops. Each person's name represented someone who wanted to help us, a positive person in my life, someone that was supporting me.
In between writing out my thank you cards, I decided to head across the street and check out the new coffee shop that officially opened. Today was their first day and I was so curious about it. They didn't have the typical embarrassingly-big flower bouquets out front like most new businesses show off so that was a bit odd. I'm pretty sure I know why no flowers because as soon as I walked into their second floor coffee shop I noticed it's a coffee shop owned and operated by a couple of young guys. They look no older than university age. I introduced myself to them as the owner of Hulk's across the street from them and jokingly told them that if anyone comes in from my boxing club, they're to "suggest" them to buy an extra coffee -- a cappuccino with an extra shot of espresso. After I received my coffee, I turned to one of the young guys and told him that I've been waiting two years for a decent coffee shop to pop up. "Keep making good coffee and I'll send you customers!", I told them. Scored a free coffee for that comment so I thought I'd continue the sweetness by leaving him a $5 tip.
A little support, whether it's from someone who has financially invested in you to do what you do or from a stranger on the street simply sharing a smile, a little bit of support goes a long ways. Today my day was filled with many people who supported me and I know every day there are others who support me despite me perhaps not seeing it or feeling it. The point is to recognise that you are support, it'll help you stay positive, and to try to pay it forward.
No comments:
Post a Comment