Yeet Ur Skeet

I'm a black belt in Aikido now, and I'm super stoked about it. All those hours of training, 15 hours of training over 3.5 days for summer camp, and the test. Passed well enough that a lot of people commended me more than just the usual "congratulations". Even the people running the test thought I did really well. I'm so happy now.

But the grind doesn't stop here. I got to keep on improving my skills and train at least another 600 hours, and then I can qualify for 2nd degree black belt. Of course, time doesn't matter if your skill doesn't improve or is not there to begin with.

But I've got goals to reach Shihan (at least 6th degree black belt and being an instructor at a dojo).

For now, I'll enjoy my victory and celebrate the here and now.

Inspiring Strength

Maybe I'm getting too obsessed and maybe it's just a placebo effect, but whatever it is, it makes me feel strong and powerful, and actually boosts my physical strength. Or at least the drive and determination to push harder.

So for those who don't know, I'm a Batman fan. Or fanatic. I also decided that with other people taking to social media as LU's [insert superhero name here], why not take up arms as Liberty's very own Dark Knight. Yes, I am the Liberty Batman. If you aren't already, please go give my insta a follow @thelibertybatman, and my Twitter @BatmanLiberty, and like and follow the Facebook page The Liberty Batman. Okay, enough shameless self-promotion.

So naturally being a big Batman fan, I have a lot of collectibles and memorabilia of the Dark Knight. Today, I was wearing a shirt I got from Universal Studios (oddly enough) that had the Batman symbol from Batman V Superman: Dawn of Justice. I say oddly enough because Universal is more geared towards Marvel characters since they have a Spiderman ride, Dr. Doom ride, and Fantastic Four stuff. You get the idea.

While wearing this shirt, I felt good about my physique. Maybe because the shirt is on the bigger side for me, and now that I'm developing my back muscles, I can begin to see that supposed triangle or "Dorito" shape that men are supposed to have. So feeling confident in my strength and feeling like I'm more like Batman already (I mean I kind of am, with my near black belt skills and above average strength), I manage to lift a little heavier in some exercises, and push back up to my strength before I dropped off a bit from vacation.

I'm not really sure if the shirt really had any effect on my strength and performance in the gym today, but I'd like to think it did.

So if you're trying to workout to get your own superhero body, try to figure out who your favorite hero is and emulate their power and strength. It might help you.

It's Hard Now But The End Justifies It All

Some of you may know I've been preparing for my black belt test in Aikido ever since I got home for the summer. It's been a pretty successful training, with approximately 8 hours a week at the gym doing weights and cardio, and then another 8 hours a week training at the dojo. 16 hours a week of hard training, and I'm beginning to find myself getting tired.

Then again, with only one more week or so until my test, it's going to be a lot of tough training at the dojo.

It feels good because I can already see my physique has changed over the past 4 months, and with my skills increasing, I feel like I'm training as if I'm Batman. Am I? Who knows hehe.

Anyways, I just want this test done and over with. I'll still regularly train and probably still go just as frequently as I already do, but just to reach the end goal after all this time and training, it will feel good.

Here We Go Again

I've been thinking a good bit about my crush again. Idk why I do. I try to not let my thoughts be overrun with thinking about her too much, just because I'm still trying to find out if God wants me to pursue her as a girlfriend and then eventually wife. I also know I still have many aspects of myself that I have to grow and develop before I can be a good boyfriend to her, should that day ever arrive.

Don't get me wrong, it's not like I don't want to think about her, but I just don't want my thoughts to dwell too much on her while I'm still figuring things out and still praying about my feelings for her, and praying for my own growth in my faith as well as hers.

I don't really know what to do, and this isn't the first time it's happened.

Strange Conditions

This has been on my mind and I had to get it written out. So my best friend and I were talking the other day. Well, technically texting. But I was considering that not for this coming year but next year to maybe live off campus. I asked if he wanted to live with me again.

He said he wouldn't mind but that he wouldn't want to if I didn't have a job or had my parents pay for rent.

I can understand that he would want me to be a bit more responsible and take up a job, so that's kinda understandable, although given my bad time management, a job is not optimal for me to focus on my academics (lol me focusing on academics? Good one).

But the other one? Saying he wouldn't my parents to pay for it? Again, I get it that I should be responsible and be able to pay for it myself, but at the same time, who cares where the money for the rent comes from? Why does it matter? If it gets paid, he doesn't have to worry about covering me for the month and then have to get paid back.

I'm honestly a little shocked. I would've thought he wouldn't mind without setting conditions, given the fact that we've gotten along pretty well for the 1.5-2 years we did live with each other.

If these are still conditions in the future, I'm going to put him on the back burner and just stay on campus. I'd hate to do that, but at the same time, it's dumb for him to set this conditions.

Is This It?

I recently got back into praying again. I was on a pretty good track for a solid chunk of time. But then I slipped off and never made an effort to get back into it. After enough reminders here and there throughout going to church and my friends encouraging me to be more intentional with my faith, I finally started back up.

So if you've been following my blog for a little while, you'll know the whole, well I don't know what other term to use so here goes, situation concerning the girl I'm currently crushing on. ICYMI, just scroll back to some older posts. I'll make an edit later with all the post titles to make it easier for you to find, should you be interested.

Anyways, I've been praying trying to figure out what to do about my crush, seeing that it was rekindled and strongly at that. Of course, I know that sometimes God closes doors for His reasons, and it's just something that we have to learn to accept. There's no point in fighting the Lord and trying to change His plan. So the important part to remember for this post is the doors part.

I saw something on Facebook today talking about how God closes doors, and I wrote my short thoughts on it, trying to encourage whoever actually still sees what I post/what I share on Facebook, to trust in the Lord and know that just because He closes one door that it doesn't mean He won't open another.

Guess who ends up liking that post?

I'll give you a second. Maybe two.

Okay, you ready?

My crush. Of course my crush just happens to see this post I shared and hits like.

I don't know if this is how God chooses to speak to me. I'm still trying to figure out how He wants to talk to me and how His voice sounds to me.

But if this isn't it, then what is it?

It's a funny joke on God's part, if it is truly Him doing all this. Well, who am I kidding? It has to be Him. If even only in the slightest.

So what's He trying to say? That He's closing the door on this crush? I mean if yes, so be it. It would honestly suck for a moment, but I want to trust that God knows what He's doing.

I don't want to overthink it, but I find it mildly comedic.

Good humor, God.

Edit: here's some of the post titles regarding my crush. The rest are pretty obvious and closer to these posting dates, so have fun.

Good Feels
The Lord Moves in Mysterious Ways
Yep It's A Rebound
Was It The Right Thing To Do?

Innocence of Youth

It's always amazing how innocent the young ones can be.

I just saw a maybe 8, at most 10, year old boy with his mom, buying a suitcase at Kohl's. The worker was mentioning they have to double check to make sure no one is trying to steal anything by hiding it in the suitcase.

The boy loudly asks, "how could you ever live with yourself if you stole something".

It gives me hope that young kids don't ever think that stealing is okay and that they wouldn't think about doing it themselves. Of course things may change depending on the people he hangs out with in the future and other exterior factors, but the moral compass is there and so far guiding him in the right direction.

Hopefully he continues on this path.

Stop Running From The Truth

I don't want to sound cold or disrespectful, but there's been this one case of a missing woman by the name of Jennifer Dulos from Connecticut. She went missing 2 months ago, and she was the only thing that the news would report about for a week or two. Eventually police found her car, abandoned, as well as blood spatters that matched the woman's blood.

Fast forward to today where apparently local businesses in the area of Connecticut that she's from are making sure that "the case doesn't go cold", by printing flyers to keep reminding others.

I should also mention that within the first 2 weeks of this happening that her estranged husband and his current girlfriend were apprehended, and I think are either convicted or awaiting trial. Honestly, I don't really know.

Look, I get it. You want to find this mother who has I think 2 children. It's sad to hear things like this, but if you haven't found her for 2 months, and you've already found her blood spattered, she's very likely already dead and disposed of. There's no amount of looking that can resurrect this woman. She's gone, it's time to move on. Please don't make this 2019's version of "Junior" who was mistaken for a rival gang member and stabbed brutally to death in NYC last year. That was tragic, but it also was dragged on for literal months.

Slightly Less Jet Lag

Okay 10:34 is like half an hour later before I feel the tireds. Am I really this impacted by jet lag? Like what the heck?

Or am I just tired because I've had a good, long day?

Or is it a combination of the two?

Why do I even write these blogs haha?

Does anyone even read them?

Am I becoming self-aware on my blog?

Jet Lag???

Hi, it's been awhile.

I just got back from a 2 week vacation to Greece on Tuesday, July 9th. Greece is 7 hours ahead of the East Coast, so naturally there's some jet lag. I do manage to go to bed at nighttime hours for East Coast, but like I still feel extremely tired by the time 10 or 11 pm comes around. Prior to the trip, I was fine at these hours, and it's not like I'm not getting enough sleep.

Not sure if it's jet lag that I'm getting hit with. I didn't really get hit with it when we went to Greece, albeit that we took the first day as a rest/nap day to acclimate. Then again maybe it's because of the heat, the sun, and the physical exhaustion we were hit with because of all the walking we did all over Athens, and the various Greek Islands when we were on the cruise, so maybe I never registered it as jet lag (is it still lag if you go forward in time?)

Hopefully I can shake it soon if it is jet lag that gets me tired. I mean my daytime performance is fine. Only thing lacking is a moderate strength and endurance drop because I skipped working out for 2 weeks haha. But I'll restore that after a week or two of reconditioning.