The Man Behind The Curtain: January

For most people, January is a month the drags on and seems to never end. You have the new year and then it's just a checklist of taking down decorations from Christmas, and getting back onto schedule. There is a high urgency to get everything just right and starting off the new year right. After the first week things slow back into the pace that you were at before the holiday started. 

That is not the case for me. 

 Every year my church starts off the year with a 21 day fast. It's not just not eating for three weeks, it's going to the church and listening to preachers and teachers almost every single night for three weeks. My January rolls into being one of the busiest times of the year for me. There is no hanging out with friends, or doing stuff after work, it's just none stop going. So, I figured that would be the first topic of what I believe, and why it applies to me being more authentic. 

 We do need to talk about Daniel in The Karate Kid first. 

Daniel and his mom move across the country even though Daniel has not interest in living in California. The apartment they have is lack luster, he doesn't know anyone, and he starts getting picked on right from the get go. However, Daniel develops a unusual friendship with the maintenance man, Mr. Miyagi. When Daniel meets Mr. Miyagi he was just there to get his help to fix something in their new place. However, Daniel takes an interest in what Mr. Miyagi has in his shop and just starts to ask general questions about the mysterious maintenance man. Miyagi finds out about the bullies at school, and how they are roughing him up at school, and steps in to help. Miyagi tires to be a mediator between the bullies teachers, who is teaching his students karate in a nonrepeatable use of the art, and then ends up training Daniel to take of his students in a competition that is coming up. 

Miyagi trains Daniel for the competition in what seems to be questionable tactics. Cleaning car, painting fences, and balancing the in ocean does not seem like a great us of Daniel's time. Until these lessons show him that he was actually learning some fundamentals of karate, and patience. From there, Miyagi shows him how to use these tools and add them to some more complicated moves, but really shows him how great the sport is. That it's mental and physical, and you have to be respectful of the sport and culture that it comes from. Knowing the moves is one thing, but know when it's appropriate to use them is another. 

This is the first time that I have seen The Karate Kid. I have said it before, movies that are from the 80s is a period of movie history that I really need to get a better education in. This movie was wonderful. There is a lot of depth to these characters that I didn't really think was going to be there. I need to stop judging a movie based off of the pop culture references that I know it from. The reason I think that this movie is such a classic is because Daniel seems to always be himself. There is some doubts that he has with the girl he is dating, because she comes from a wealthier family that he does. However, in most of his character he doesn't hide his friendship with Mr. Miyagi, or his love for karate. He learns pretty quickly to adapt and enjoy where life has taken him. 

So, the movie has nothing to do with fast but it has a lot to do with discipline and self control. If you asked me 5 year ago if I would have ever been able to do a full food fast for three weeks I would have said no. I did do a full fast the last two years. This year I could not because I had to have a small procedure done and take medication after, and you need food for that. 

Self control is one of the hardest things to master in the life. That can look like trying to eat better and at times that can look like trying to stay away from people that are note good for you to be around. It's something that you have to be alert to all the time when you are a follow of Christ. If you don't pay attention you can stumble and fall. You can end up somewhere where you never thought you would be. 

The other reason to fast is to take the time you would have done worrying about food, and actually eating, to refocus the time to be with God more. In prayer, meditation, or reading that word. 

I know that a lot of people have thought it crazy or impossible to not eat for that long but it's really helped me. It's helped to refocus on goals, and to hear God better. It's also helped me to having new dreams that I never thought would be something that I want to do. 

This is something that it might be hard to explain but it's worth it for me to do. It's part of who I am, and I know that I need to incorporate it more in my life than just at the start of the year.