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batskeetsYeah, I may have to buy this one: Punch Out!! for the Wii!
Boy seems to be coming out of his depressed funk, which is good. We talked about it a couple nights ago, and he's been asking a lot of questions of himself as far as what he's meant to do in life, and what his unique contribution to the world is, and he'd hit a low point where he was feeling really hopeless about it. I think he felt better just talking about it, which I kind of knew he would, because it so often works that way. It's hard to get those things out of him, sometimes, but I'm always glad when we do.
After we talked, I did some (written) journaling about what's important to me in life, and I concluded that I'm not somebody who feels the drive to make some huge impact on the world at large. I actually feel more gratified by connecting with people on a more individual basis, and making an impact on an individual life. Of course, I basically shoot myself in the foot on that, at the personal level (yay social anxiety), but I can do pretty well at helping people individually, if I have a particular role to play.
And, with that in mind, I found myself thinking (again) about becoming a personal trainer, while I was in the shower yesterday. It's an option that I haven't talked much about openly, but when I think of professions I'd love to be doing and could also make my living at, it goes something like this:
1) photographer
2) wushu instructor
3) personal trainer
4) graphic/web designer
Photography and design are creative-itch-scratchers that I'll generally always be happy with, and the only problems there are: A) I'm not (yet) making my living at photography, and B) I'm mainly asked to do development at The Job, even though I was originally hired as a designer. And, I rarely get to see the impact that my work has on anyone, because I'm usually far removed from the people my work influences.
Being a wushu instructor would be awesome because, well, I love wushu. I also found, after coaching at UO for a year, that I actually like teaching it quite a bit. And really, after all that the sport has brought to my life, I'd love to give back to the wushu community through teaching and sharing. If I could help someone find passion and healing through this sport like I have, I'd be so, so thrilled. It being such a relatively unknown sport here in the U.S., however, my only real option is to teach at my current school.
Personal training? Well, it's something that I seriously consider from time to time, because I know what a struggle it is to get healthy and get right with yourself. I also know a ridiculous amount about nutrition and conditioning for somebody who's never officially trained in it or studied it, and if I actually applied it to myself, I'd be a total bad-ass.
But, more importantly, I've been through the experience of being truly fat, and not just "fat" by mainstream media standards. The self-flagellation that comes with trying to lose weight, the sheer frustration, the loss of motivation, the utter confusion about what will actually work. It's harder than a lot of people recognize, and I'm consistently amazed at the people who fight their way out of an unhealthy lifestyle.
I feel a lot of fulfillment when I can help someone get through difficult times, but I don't seem to be a person that people want to seek out for help, at least not with personal matters. But this? This feels like an area where I might actually have the knowledge and the understanding to do that. I know what it's like, and how important it is to have the right kind of support, and I think I could give that to someone else.
Of course, I don't have any certifications, and I'm not even sure which one would be best to get... not to mention some of them are *quite* the financial investment. And, well, I'm not sure that anyone would take me seriously as a trainer, because I still have weight to lose, and I'm not super-great on endurance because cardio tends to bore me. And there's also the possibility that social anxiety would get in my way in this profession. Granted, it gets in the way, to some extent, in just about *every* profession, but personal training would make How I Deal With People into a significant part of my job. I don't want to let fear of failing-at-social-interaction affect the choices I make, though... that's a trap I'm tired of falling into.
I kind of wish I knew where to look for more detail on personal training, though. (![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
phrassie?) It's something I at least want to look further into, because I'm sure I'll be thinking about it again, before long...
Boy seems to be coming out of his depressed funk, which is good. We talked about it a couple nights ago, and he's been asking a lot of questions of himself as far as what he's meant to do in life, and what his unique contribution to the world is, and he'd hit a low point where he was feeling really hopeless about it. I think he felt better just talking about it, which I kind of knew he would, because it so often works that way. It's hard to get those things out of him, sometimes, but I'm always glad when we do.
After we talked, I did some (written) journaling about what's important to me in life, and I concluded that I'm not somebody who feels the drive to make some huge impact on the world at large. I actually feel more gratified by connecting with people on a more individual basis, and making an impact on an individual life. Of course, I basically shoot myself in the foot on that, at the personal level (yay social anxiety), but I can do pretty well at helping people individually, if I have a particular role to play.
And, with that in mind, I found myself thinking (again) about becoming a personal trainer, while I was in the shower yesterday. It's an option that I haven't talked much about openly, but when I think of professions I'd love to be doing and could also make my living at, it goes something like this:
1) photographer
2) wushu instructor
3) personal trainer
4) graphic/web designer
Photography and design are creative-itch-scratchers that I'll generally always be happy with, and the only problems there are: A) I'm not (yet) making my living at photography, and B) I'm mainly asked to do development at The Job, even though I was originally hired as a designer. And, I rarely get to see the impact that my work has on anyone, because I'm usually far removed from the people my work influences.
Being a wushu instructor would be awesome because, well, I love wushu. I also found, after coaching at UO for a year, that I actually like teaching it quite a bit. And really, after all that the sport has brought to my life, I'd love to give back to the wushu community through teaching and sharing. If I could help someone find passion and healing through this sport like I have, I'd be so, so thrilled. It being such a relatively unknown sport here in the U.S., however, my only real option is to teach at my current school.
Personal training? Well, it's something that I seriously consider from time to time, because I know what a struggle it is to get healthy and get right with yourself. I also know a ridiculous amount about nutrition and conditioning for somebody who's never officially trained in it or studied it, and if I actually applied it to myself, I'd be a total bad-ass.
But, more importantly, I've been through the experience of being truly fat, and not just "fat" by mainstream media standards. The self-flagellation that comes with trying to lose weight, the sheer frustration, the loss of motivation, the utter confusion about what will actually work. It's harder than a lot of people recognize, and I'm consistently amazed at the people who fight their way out of an unhealthy lifestyle.
I feel a lot of fulfillment when I can help someone get through difficult times, but I don't seem to be a person that people want to seek out for help, at least not with personal matters. But this? This feels like an area where I might actually have the knowledge and the understanding to do that. I know what it's like, and how important it is to have the right kind of support, and I think I could give that to someone else.
Of course, I don't have any certifications, and I'm not even sure which one would be best to get... not to mention some of them are *quite* the financial investment. And, well, I'm not sure that anyone would take me seriously as a trainer, because I still have weight to lose, and I'm not super-great on endurance because cardio tends to bore me. And there's also the possibility that social anxiety would get in my way in this profession. Granted, it gets in the way, to some extent, in just about *every* profession, but personal training would make How I Deal With People into a significant part of my job. I don't want to let fear of failing-at-social-interaction affect the choices I make, though... that's a trap I'm tired of falling into.
I kind of wish I knew where to look for more detail on personal training, though. (
phrassie?) It's something I at least want to look further into, because I'm sure I'll be thinking about it again, before long...
