[JediNickD] World 4 Level 1: "The Greatest Teacher, Failure Is" (Last Jedi Spoilers)

[JediNickD]

Welcome back for another episode of The Exciting Adventures of JediNickD! It was a long time ago in a galaxy far, far away that I joined this site and started my first challenge.. World 1 was my first extended stay through 22 challenges.  I took a hiatus from NF and came back with a new direction for my goals where I warped to World 2, which I defeated in a Boss Fight slaying some mighty big goals. 

In World 3, I continue to develop my fitness, getting my body in the best shape of my life, even with the Degenerative Disc Disease, Arthritis, Disc Fissures, and a crooked spine causing nerve root irritation and pain in my back, hip, legs, neck, and shoulders.  Through physical therapy exercises and karate, I have maintained my core and back muscles to ease the pressure off my spine, but in the end I defeated World 3 by transforming my life into a new form.  With Chiropractor, Back Pain Injection, Purple Senior, starting the new Toastmasters program called Pathways, a new Toastmasters year with less club leadership responsibility (I need to stop carrying clubs on my back to reduce my stress levels), and working to complete my Novice training at IJRS, this next challenge is going to feel like a new world.  

 

I'm not planning to relive my youth by playing rugby or football again, but I'm not giving up hope on the possibility of achieving other amazing fitness goals... Rebellions are built on HOPE!  I'm just going to keep on L-I-V-I-N, fight the good (and healthy) fight, and level up my life!

 

Challenge Lesson:  "The Greatest Teacher, Failure Is" - Yoda, Star Wars Episode VIII: The Last Jedi

 

{The Last Jedi spoilers below}

 

Quote

 

Luke Skywalker: [Yoda appears as a ghost] Master Yoda.

Yoda: Young Skywalker.

Luke Skywalker: I'm ending all of this. The tree, the texts, the Jedi. I'm going to burn it all down.

Yoda: [Yoda summons lightning to burn down the tree and the Jedi texts. He laughs] Ah, Skywalker. Missed you, have I.

Luke Skywalker: So it is time for the Jedi Order to end.

Yoda: Time it is for you to look past a pile of old books, hmm?

Luke Skywalker: The sacred Jedi texts?

Yoda: Oh, read them, have you? Page-turners they were not. Yes, yes, yes. Wisdom they held, but that library contained nothing that the girl Rey does not already possess. Skywalker, still looking to the horizon. Never here, now, hmm? The need in front of your nose.

Luke Skywalker: I was weak. Unwise.

Yoda: Lost Ben Solo you did. Lose Rey we must not.

Luke Skywalker: I can't be what she needs me to be.

Yoda: Heeded my words not, did you? Pass on what you have learned. Strength. Mastery. But weakness, folly, failure also. Yes, failure most of all. The greatest teacher, failure is. Luke, we are what they grow beyond. That is the true burden of all masters.

 

 

 

Before viewing "The Last Jedi", many thought Luke would act as Rey's Yoda, dispensing incredible wisdom to the young padawan and train her to be a Jedi knight, making "The Last Jedi" a parallel to "Empire Strikes Back", which it is in many ways and even parallels "Return of the Jedi" in some instances.  Instead of Jedi Knight training and memorable philosophical quotes, we get, as one might expect from someone who voluntarily exiled themselves over a traumatic experience which may have doomed the galaxy, a damaged and defeated Jedi Master Luke refuses to teach Rey because he failed in teaching Ben Solo and failed to protect his other students.  His failure was not necessarily against Ben or the dark side of the Force.  His failure is against fear. 

 

In the scene described above, Luke goes to "burn it all down".  He is driven to do this through fear of what he and future Jedi would lose should they be trained to oppose the dark side, which is the true Jedi calling.  He is ashamed again for acting impulsively, as he did when he ignited his lightsaber to strike down Ben Solo while he slept.  Then Yoda invokes the lightning to "burn it all down".  It ends up being symbolic as Rey took the ancient Jedi texts.  The entire scene and exchange with Yoda boil down to Yoda extending one of the first lessons he bestowed on Luke.  Yoda says, "Skywalker, still looking to the horizon. Never here, now, hmm? The need in front of your nose," which is the same lesson from Empire Strikes Back where Yoda says, "This one a long time have I watched. All his life has he looked away... to the future, to the horizon. Never his mind on where he was. Hmm? What he was doing."

 

Luke's greatest failure has always been that he is reckless in the moment.  He looks at what might be and allows it to cloud his judgement in the moment.  Yoda explains that Luke's failure needs to be taught to the student, as failure is the best teacher.  Until this part of the film, through Luke's entire life, he never learns from this failure and it is left unclear if he does, but it is assumed by the viewer.  His sacrifice at the end is intended to be the spark for a new generation of Jedi and Resistance.  The film ends with it unclear if Luke learns from his failure and will part the knowledge on to Rey or other Jedi, except for a hint of a return in what he says to Kylo Ren, but I'm leaving that for another lesson. 

 

The lesson today is not Luke's lesson (been there, done that), but that of learning from failure.  I'm sure I've been there and done that too, and I'm sure anyone reading this has too.  Nerd Fitness creator Steve Kamb writes about it constantly.  There are numberous quotes with the sentiment.  He's a Google Image search for quotes on the subject:

 

 

One of my favorites is from Batman: "Why do we fall?  So we can learn to pick ourselves back up." 

 

There is so much more to learn from a failure than a success.  First, you learn perseverance and determination.  Second, you learn how NOT to be successful.  The list can go on and on.  Maybe later I can write some more. 

 

My Main Quest and Mission:

My mission is to be the best Jedi I can be. My main quest is always to enhance my overall health, fitness, and knowledge to be prepared for whatever challenges life could throw at me. As a Jedi, I need to be able to help people, whether that is a life threatening situation or just a charitable one. There is no boss level in Jedi training, there is only tomorrow.

 

World 4 Level 1 Challenge:

FITNESS:

• Cardio: Speed and Stamina - 240 min total, 60 weekly. 

  DEX +1, STA +1
   

• Walking: Fortify the Spine - 600 min total, 150 weekly
  STR +1
   

• Exercise: Lifting and Bodyweight - 240 min total, 60 weekly. 

  STR +1, STA +1
   

• Flexibility: Stretching and Physical Therapy - 560 min total, 140 weekly. 

  STR +1, DEX +1
   

• Karate: Training and Practice - 720 min total, 150 weekly.  (120 min for Karate test on May 27th)
  DEX +1, STA +1
   

DIET:

• Weight Control - Track weight. Complete measurements before or during Week 1 and again during or after Week 4.  Watch portions and make healthy choices for 24 of 28 days.  Track lunch portions.  Track "fasting" after dinner nightly. 
  CON +2
   

LIFE:

• Get Stuff Done - Complete 220 Hours of various Tasks or Projects, with at least 55 hours each week.  Tasks and Projects are the following areas (goal hours for challenge):
  • Toastmasters
    • Communication Practice (8)
    • Leadership Practice (16)
    • Speech and Training Development (4)
  • Jedi Training
    • Padawan Training and Mentoring Others (10)
    • Reading and Writing (18)
    • Meditation and Reflection (7)
    • Completing IJRS Lessons (1)
    • Church and Charity Work (13)
    • Personal Projects (12)
  • Chores and Maintenance
    • Dishes (7)
    • Laundry (8)
    • Cleaning/Dusting/Vacuuming/Trash/Other (26)
    • Yard Work (4)
    • Animal Care (32)
    • Home Renovation and Auto Maintenance (12)
  • Happiness
    • Self Preservation (23) [includes hot tub, doctor and dentist visits, video games, or anything else I do just for my own sanity or health]
    • Family Activities (16)
    • Adventuring (8)  

          WIS +2, CHA +2

 

INCENTIVES!  Working hard for CASH!  ($138 carried over)

REWARD 1:  For each week in which I complete 60 or more hours of Tasks or Projects, I will put aside $10 to spend how I see fit. 
CONSEQUENCE 1:  For any week where I complete less than 55 hours, I will give up $10 of saved cash.

 

REWARD 2:  $5 for each Personal Project hour:

• write/plan/record a 2018 Extra Life Kickoff Video
• get involved in Extra Life Baltimore Guild
• draw up plan for Jedi website
• VHS-to-DVD conversion project

CONSEQUENCE 2: Lose $10 for each week without a Personal Project hour.

 

REWARD 3:  $1 for each hour working on Jedi Training lessons.  $10 for each completed IJRS lesson.  Need to get back to the formal training at IJRS.
CONSEQUENCE 3: Lose $5 for each week without working on a Jedi Training lesson.

 

REWARD 4: $1 for each night of fasting after dinner.  Fruits and veggies allowed in small quantities, but no dessert or snacking.   

CONSEQUENCE 4: Lose $2 for each day without fasting. 

 

REWARD 5: $1 for each day with a small, healthy lunch. 

CONSEQUENCE:  Lose $2 for each day without a small, healthy lunch.

 

REWARD 6: $1 for each night I brush and floss before bed.  $0 for just brushing.

CONSEQUENCE:  Lose $1 for each night I forget to brush.  Lose $2 for voluntarily skipping brushing.

 

BONUSES: 

  Life:

• $2 for healthy grocery shopping
• $2 for healthy meal prep
• $2 for each Home Renovation and Auto Maintenance task.

  Workout:

• $2 for each cardio session over 25 min
• $10 for doubling any weekly minimum

 

PUNISHMENT:

• Lose $10 each day with weight above 151.5 lbs. 
• Lose $5 for eating more than 2 slices of pizza in any meal.
• Lose $5 for not weighing in each morning

[Manarelle]

Following again. Good points about failure, and the takeaway from Last Jedi. 

[JediNickD]

Week 0 has gone well.  149.6 lbs today, so I'll be starting off at a good point.  Just need to keep the healthy eating momentum.  The chiropractor visits have been helpful to straighten me out.  My body feels different and I can feel the relearning of posture when I'm walking and standing.  I used to put more weight on my right leg when standing for long periods, but it isn't comfortable to do that anymore.  Evenly distributing weight feels more natural and comfortable.

 

Week 1 will kick off with my Karate test for Purple Senior.  I'm planning to spotlight my creed for the test, which is the first part of Vince Lombardi's Victorious quote.  My combos and form are solid.  I finally striped the combos as the instructors pushed me for.  They gave me new details for 4 weeks.  Each one I incorporated and progressed.  The combo kicks are uncomfortable for my right leg and lower back, but I have excellent flow and power.  I'm sure the next thing they will have me work on in being loose and graceful.  I tend to tense up with rigid motion.  I'm not a dancer, but I can be light on my feet with calculated movements, which I need to work into my form and combos.  We have what is called breaking style with hitting hard and following through with which I am very comfortable.  We also have ballet style where I struggle.  I've been practicing it more to help develop my flow in my combos and form but it feels so awkward mostly because I have no rhythm.  I should make it a goal to do my form ballet style for my next test.  I'm considering picking up nunchaku as my one experience with them required flow and timing which only frequent practice would drill in.  Also, nunchucks are totally radical.

 

 

Gotta keep practicing to be as good as Mikey!

 

 

[Manarelle]

Glad to hear things are straightening out and feeling more natural. Funny how much small adjustments can have huge impacts. I'm imagining you testing for your next level wearing a tutu and pointe shoes... would definitely be more graceful (and hilarious). Keep up the good work. 

[JediNickD]

152.4 lbs this morning.  Today is Injection Day.  I'm nervous about it with a bunch of questions about post care, but I expect all the worry will be put to rest by the doctor.  

 

Karate practice this morning went well.  I went through all my forms with a few minor hiccups.  I have class tonight.  The test on Sunday was awesome.  I missed my Creed stripe by one word.  Cleaning it up for tonight.  That would leave form and spar stripes before my full review purple stripe and advanced rank test.  I expect it will be at least 2 months (which my body needs to get ready for the spar test), but could be 3 or 4 depending on the test schedule.

[Manarelle]

Soooooooo.....

 

How'd it go? 

[JediNickD]

149.4 lbs this morning.  I wrecked my lower back last night.  Right before karate class, my wife and I put new bed sheets on the bed.  The fitted sheet had me bend, twist, and reach awkwardly to secure it.  I tweeked something and caused muscle spasms in my lower back.  I made it through karate with a muscle relaxer, but I've been in pain all day. 

 

Yesterday, I went to see the Pain Doctor about the nerve injection.  She was on the fence about doing it since I came in feeling great (if only we changed the sheets on Tuesday!).  We pushed the injection to next Wednesday, but she didn't think it would be necessary if my pain was gone.  I need to keep an accurate journal to pull out at the appointments to show the doctor, because I can't remember most the time.     

[JediNickD]

34 minutes ago, Manarelle said:

Soooooooo.....

 

How'd it go? 

 

It didn't.  I was feeling too good.  Apparently, I have to be in pain for a pain relief injection to work.  Who knew? 

 

Next week...

[Manarelle]

Grats on going below 150, and boo for the pain/ pain free timing. Feel better. 

[JediNickD]

Got halfway through my IJRS assignment, which is huge considering I've been slogging it for 4 weeks now.  It's going to be a nice piece of writing about my view of the Warrior Spirit within the Jedi Path.  I may share it here when I'm done. 

[JediNickD]

150.2 lbs this morning.  My muscles spasms are gone, but my back is still a little sore.  More stretching and walking.  Last night was productive and relaxing.  Dishes, laundry, ducks, and Legion (with cookies).

[JediNickD]

149.0 lbs Stationary Bike for 25 min with a 5 min walk cool down. 

 

I went to a Safety Brief for a Toastmasters friend to evaluate her Backpacking Safety training.  She did a great job and it was fun, but there is a lot I can help her improve the speech. 

 

I gave a speech last night at one club and going to give it again today at another club.  It is an Oratorical Speech on Vince Lombardi's "What It Takes to be Number One", which is a creed for Brown Belt in my Karate dojo. 

 

I have 4 more speeches to complete two more awards with 4 more opportunities before the end of the Toastmasters year.  My third club needs two awards to make enough points for distinguished.  I'm going to do my part.  If we get the members to join, then I want to ensure we get the credit we deserve.

[JediNickD]

149.0 lbs Soccer training for 30 min after stretching and therapy exercises.  Last night, we had karate class.  In the junior class, I taught combinations to three white belts.  They were difficult to get focused, but we certainly made progress by the end.  In my class, I practiced my form.  After two months of learning the wrong way and over a week of repetitive motion practice hammering out the right way, I've got my scissor block rhythm down.  Phew.

 

Now, I just need to relax my body.  I'm tense all the time when doing karate, which is part controlling my body and part performance anxiety.  I have always been rigid from sports training my body to conform to the techniques, which is the controlling the body part.  For karate, each move has a chamber.  The chamber is were you load the potential energy for the strike, just like in football and rugby where you drop your hips to spring into a tackle, but I need to make that motion going from start to chamber to strike a rhythmic flow, which only tenses up before the strike.  It will take repetition to teach the body to flow properly.  To teach my body, I use a slow ballet style, then speed it up little by little, just like I did for my Brown I combinations and my scissor blocks...  But I have to do it for everything I have already learned.  

 

 

 

The performance anxiety is a different issue.  Overcoming it is all about gaining performance experience and confidence in my execution, which goes right along with the repetition, except their is also a repetition of my mental thoughts.  I need to focus on the "now", forget about what is going on outside of my strikes.  I'm too aware of my surroundings making it difficult to get into the tunnel vision needed.  Meditation helps.

 

SIDE NOTE:  The Yoda quote above is taken out of context and the overflowing cup doesn't really apply to what I was saying, but I love the analogy and lesson, so I used it anyway.  I've written about it before and I believe I will revisit it while going through the lessons in "The Last Jedi" where Rey is learning about the legends of the Jedi and the truth in their dogmatic failure.  Kind of like my rigid body failure... hmm.

[JediNickD]

Maryland Fairie Festival on Saturday was great.  The storm held off for a sunny morning and cooled off into the afternoon.  My seven-year-old daughter and I stuck it out from 10:15 am to after 4pm when the winds started to pick up.  We spent most the time walking around the vendors, checking out their stuff, looking for a gift for Mom's birthday in July, but we caught some shows which the rest of the group missed when they left at 1:30pm.  The two best shows in my opinion.  First, we got a Kona snowcone and chilled in the Bat Barn as the Allegheny Ramblers plucked some sweet bluegrass jams.  I think they played the song below. 

 

The second show was the Goblin Wizard School, which had an improvised pre-show where the goblins made up a song out words the kids suggested.  I recorded it and posted it to the Facebook event.  It will forever be known as "Avocado Noodle Butts".  It was as awesome as it sounds.

 

 

 

[Amazon Ninja]

Wow! This is great and inspiring! I'm totally following  

[JediNickD]

150.2 lbs this morning.  Karate practice this morning.  Class tonight after chiropractic visit, evaluation, and educational seminar.  It's going to be a long day. 

 

At least yesterday was fun.  Cooked dinner with my wife, then played with the kids a bit, played with the dogs a bit, played with friends a bit.  Also, jumped the friends' car and helped get it off the trailer.  They just drove from Oregon to Maryland over the last few weeks in about truck towing their car.  They are moving a few streets from my house, which is pretty cool.  It'll be great to have them close.

[JediNickD]

149.8 lbs this morning.  Ran on the treadmill for 2 miles in 16 minutes, then walked for 14 minutes for a cool down.  Good sweat, felt strong with solid posture and full lungs.  I felt like I could have gone longer and further, but I was on a time crunch after getting to the gym a little late.  I took my time in the hot tub this morning.  I would have gone faster, but I don't want to push too hard until I've progressed to my maintenance schedule for chiropractor adjustments. 

 

Usually, when I run on the treadmill, the impact is bouncy and difficult on my body.  I prefer running outside because I have more control on the impact.  I tend to drop my feet hard, but I am lighter on my feet when running outside.  It must be a mental thing where outside is an engaging adventure, but the treadmill doesn't go anywhere and I have to distract myself with music or video to pass the time.  Either way, I need to get off the treadmill and run outside, as I enjoy it more.  Today, I was able to keep my feet light with very little bounce.  My body just felt more fluid than usual.  It would be good to compare to an outside run.

 

My Chiropractic Reassessment was very positive.  They are seeing changes in posture and weight distribution.  Also, I am making changes in my diet, exercise, and care directly affecting my spine.  I know it helpful to have a positive attitude and I am naturally skeptical.  Having a doctor who is interested in educating their patients is extremely helpful in keeping me positive and committed to the treatment.  All the changes I am making personally, I was already doing or moving towards.  The adjustments and education is accelerating the changes to a pace where it will influence my next 30 years. 

 

This is a launch point.  Before I dreaded how I'd feel in 30 years and how that would effect who I would be.  When I'm in pain, I am distracted and don't input the same.  I miss conversations and misconstrue things.  I am short tempered as well.  More pain means more of that.  Awareness of these behaviors help mitigate them; however, correcting the cause instead of treating the symptoms and side effects is therapeutic in a way that I am less stressed and depressed about my future self and relationships with my family.  All systems are go!

[Manarelle]

On 6/13/2018 at 9:13 AM, JediNickD said:

My Chiropractic Reassessment was very positive.  They are seeing changes in posture and weight distribution.  Also, I am making changes in my diet, exercise, and care directly affecting my spine.  I know it helpful to have a positive attitude and I am naturally skeptical.  Having a doctor who is interested in educating their patients is extremely helpful in keeping me positive and committed to the treatment.  All the changes I am making personally, I was already doing or moving towards.  The adjustments and education is accelerating the changes to a pace where it will influence my next 30 years. 

 

That's great that the doctor is communicating well; amazing how much of a difference that makes. Congrats on the positive feedback and reinforcement - hope the next 30 years is much less stressful and easier on you (and those around you; big difference between being mindful of attitude and not having the pain to create the attitude in the first place). 

[JediNickD]

150.2 lbs this morning.  Tried out some of the Chiropractic Home Exercises this morning.  They are all pretty similar to physical therapy exercises I already do, so adding them in will be a cinch once I can remember them all.  Karate last night was a board breaking class.  Pick two strikes, one upper, one lower, and hit pads for 30 minutes, check for redness and heat to avoid skin tears, then the last 15 minutes was dedicated to breaking wood boards with one of the strikes, wrapping up with stacking multiple targets with strikes.  It was a fun class with plenty of teachable moments for all levels.  More class tonight!

[JediNickD]

149.2 lbs this morning.  Two karate classes last night, one sempai and one spar, though neither was much of either title in execution, but rather in teaching moments. 

 

For the Junior class I was a sempai.  First, we warmed up the class.  During the Mokuso (mediation) part of the warm up, the instructor gave the sempai students a quick lesson on quarterpaging, which is when you give praise for a student performing well, like a pat on the back, thumbs up, great job, etc.  I need a bit of help with how effective what I do is and how to improve my effectiveness.  I feel some of that is establishing a warm relationship with the students, which struggle with at every level.  As an introvert, I instinctively get visually nervous when meeting new people which is off-putting to whoever I am meeting.  With adults, it is less influential in establishing a relationship, but with kids, they act afraid of me, like they can sense my nervousness.  On a playground with my kids, I like to play with them, which ALWAYS results in other kids, of all ages, being drawn to me.  It is a little weird.  I need to figure out how I do that and do it in everything.  I think most of it is that I am just having fun with no worry of anyone judging me on the playground, but in all other situations my subconscious is obsessed with people judging me.  I worry about making good first impressions.  I need to get over it. 

 

After the warm up, we played a few games and at the end of each, the instructor asked the students what they learned.  In their answers, I again received a nice lesson in instruction and reinforcement. 

 

For the Spar class, we had six students and started with an intense spar warm up, then moved to a one-step combination exercise.  We wrapped that up quickly and moved to a game.  Instead of the typical contact sparring, the main part of the class was this blind-folded tag game.  We laid mats out, blind folded two participants, put them on hands and knees, then set them off to find and tag their opponent.  The idea was that many of the concepts we use in spar are reflected in this game.  You have to vary strategy and use creativity.  You need to be aggressive and keep moving to keep from getting boxed in.  You need to trust your body instinct and senses outside of just what you see.  It was a fun class with plenty to learn from.

[JediNickD]

149.2 lbs this morning.  Karate class last night.  Karate practice and stretching this morning.  Feeling a little stiff and sore, but nothing extreme.

 

Today is my follow-up with my Pain Management doctor.  My injection is scheduled for next Wednesday.  I was thinking I might cancel it since I was feeling good with chiropractic treatments going so well, but I didn't want to make the decision on my own judgement.  I'm going to visit, get examined, and see what the doctor says. 

[JediNickD]

Crap!  I just realized this is Week 4!  I need to get that damn IJRS lesson done! 

[Manarelle]

How did the dr's visit go? Still feeling better? 

[JediNickD]

52 minutes ago, Manarelle said:

How did the dr's visit go? Still feeling better? 

 

Doctor visit went well and we are proceeding with an injection for the arthritis on Wednesday the 27th.  I'm not excited, but it is necessary to help relieve the re-occurring issues.  I was actually having some leg pain issues when I went in and been a bit sore this week with the worst last night. 

 

I made it through 2 hours of karate last night though.  Spar tomorrow should be ok without the contact.  I have to do 3 consecutive rounds for a minute each, then talk about how it went after for my Red Stripe.  It is more of an endurance test to baseline my fundamentals (guards, movement, etc) and evaluate my strategy (use of combos, create opportunity, etc).  I'm most worried about being able to ease off the gas pedal to keep it non-contact.  Back pain or not, my tank is full and the engine is ready to go, even if the chassis is can't take the pounding right now.

[Manarelle]

Love the analogy. Anything you can do beforehand to wear out the engine a bit without breaking the frame?