Mending the Nets

"There is a time to fish and a time to mend the nets."  I got that quote from Kahil Gibran and I always remember it when I am feeling slow, sick, or unproductive.

I am the type of person that always wants to fish - keep producing, creating, and doing.  There is a part of me that believes if I am not doing, creating or learning that I don't deserve to breathe air on the planet.  Harsh?  Yes, but I can't help that thought.  It's a part of me and I have to deal with it when it comes up.

Once again, I have a cold.  For every few months of good health and getting into fighting shape, I seem to get sick, have a depressive episode or get an all encompassing job that won't let me train or rest properly.  It's incredibly frustrating because I never seem to get into good enough shape, or write enough, or do enough promotion for my film.  I am stuck in this heavy fog that won't let me do much of anything.  Perhaps it is God's way of making me slow down.  Or it's just my dharma.

As the years pass, I think I am getting better at accepting these unwanted rest periods, but they are still difficult even when I put them in perspective.  After all, there are people who have REAL problems.

At least I work for myself and can take a nap in the middle of the day or work late into the night if I need to.  Eventually, I always do get better and can get into extremely good shape for a month or two -  before the cold, sickness, or depression hit again.

Last weekend, I was fortunate to work the corner of pro fighter, Gloria Salas.  She is super talented, has tons of drive, heart and athleticism.  For this fight, she told me that because her car was broken down, she couldn't get to the boxing gym.  She trained at an MMA gym near her house and sparred guys who did MMA.  She improved her cardio, but lacked real technical boxing training.

For what she had, she did amazingly well.  She lost in a close decision against a very talented, well trained Maggie Suarez.  She did the best with what she had.

Now, she has to go back to Palm Springs and as I advised her, get her car situation fixed.  That's the start of mending her nets before she can fish again.  Then, she will need to find a boxing gym, a good coach and figure out a way to schedule all this in with her work, her children and her boyfriend.  One stitch at a time.

Each day is a measure of patience.  Each moment is a leap of faith.