"Uh, Oh!"

My youngest son (Nathaniel) is almost two-years old, and he is one of the most adventurous babies I have seen. He loves to explore, take BIG chances, and take everything apart that he can get his hands on. He loves to run fast and play hard and truly embraces the "life with no limits" mentality of a little guy! Some of you may be thinking, "Well, that is just the way it is with every little one." True. But now multiply that by FIFTY, and you will be in the ballpark!

I love it, though. You see, he is not a bad kid, and he really isn't pushing any more of the so-called "buttons" that most any other kid pushes. He simply has a kicked-up level of passion about life...even as a little guy. There is one thing, though, that comes with living life "at full throttle" that we should all keep in mind - no matter what age we are:

It is the fact that the more you and I seek to excel, live life passionately, go "all-out", experience life to the fullest (or however else you might want to phrase this)...the more mistakes we will make along the way.

Yep. The "M" word: "Mistake". Mess up. Boo Boo. Oopsy. "Oh My!" Goof up. "I can't believe I just did that...", or Nathaniel's favorite line as of late..."UH, OH!" And he always seems to be smiling when he says it...I wonder if that is on purpose? :)

If you want to know a secret for getting the most out of life (and Martial Arts), keep reading...

I have heard it said the only two things for certain in life are Death and Taxes. (Sorry for bringing up taxes this week...) I disagree, though, because you and I are guaranteed (110%) at some point in our lives (most likely many points) to make MISTAKES!

The difference between people is not whether or not they make mistakes, rather what they do with them when they make them. Relationship mistakes. School mistakes. Job mistakes. Financial mistakes. Training mistakes...regardless of what kind, we all make them and we all have a choice of what to do with them.

I will give you a secret that is the difference between most Champions and those who are not living to their full potential. When the "average" person makes a mistake they get upset, listen to the little negative voice in their heads telling them they are "no good and just give up", stay discouraged, and otherwise remain stuck in a "ho-hum" existence.

The Champion, on the other hand, makes up his mind to overcome the mistake, to learn and grow from her experience, to pull himself up out of discouragement and accept that mistakes DO happen, and that mistakes can be the building blocks to HUGE successes, the learning curve to HIGHER education, and the experiences we need to truly EXCEL and live a MOTIVATED life.

Are you a Champion or the "average" person? Are you living life at full-throttle or just "ho-hum"? Will your next mistake catapult you to new heights or will you allow it to keep you down?

You have a choice, and I suspect that if you are reading this you are most likely on the "Champion" side of life. So...

Go ahead. Choose life at "full-throttle". Choose BIG chances. Choose to run fast, play hard, and embrace Life! Yes, you will make mistakes, and that's O.K. Use them as fuel to keep you going instead of water to put out your fire.

In the meantime...

Have An Extraordinary Day!
Doug McGannon
Kickgen username: KGDoug
http://www.twitter.com/dougmcgannon

P.S. - I will give you another quick secret about making the most out of your mistakes: Laugh it up! That's right. Don't take yourself so seriously. Learn to smile and laugh a little at your mistakes and it makes it easier to learn from them, overcome them, and move forward a little faster. You can always do what Nathaniel does: Just look up, smile and say "Uh, Oh!" Trust me, it works. Go ahead, smile...I dare you!