Do You Struggle to Balance Family, Work, and Training?
I was watching television one day in when I saw the Gracie Combatives commercial. I caught my attention and I called and ordered the DVDs. That was in September 2009. After that, BJJ became a major part of my life. I started training regularly at a local school the next January.
Training in Brazilian Jiu Jitsu gives me an opportunity to test my mind, body, and heart. I get to push myself beyond what I thought were my limits.
I would love to train more, but my daily schedule doesn’t allow it. I get up at about 4:30am, get ready for work and then wake up my daughter at 5 so I can have her ready for daycare on time. If I’m lucky I can get some coffee made before we leave a few minutes before 6. I usually work 8-10 hours 5 or 6 days a week. After that I pick up my daughter from daycare and it’s home to take care of the regular fatherhood duties. Although I am a single father, I am lucky to have my wonderful Mom helping my raise my daughter.
In Jiu Jitsu my biggest struggle is my Ego! If I am rolling with someone lower ranked and they manage to tap me it still bothers me a little bit. I might get a little frustrated and just try to tap them instead of learning or experimenting. I like to roll with higher belts and the good part about that is that when I make a mistake they can help me understand what I did wrong and I can learn from it.
My biggest struggle overall though is just trying to balance all the priorities I have. Family comes first, and work takes so much time that it’s not easy to train as often as I want. Training is so important though that I have to make time for it on a regular basis.
That’s my Jiu Jitsu Lifestyle.
It’s a struggle to maintain the proper balance between family, work, and training. We all know people who don’t train anymore because of time restrictions, and we all know people who should be taking care of business at home but are at the dojo 5 nights a week instead. How do you manage to balance things? Any advice for Desmund as he tries to maximize his training while still taking care of his little girl? Let us know in the comments below. - bjj weekly
