"To Teach is To Learn Twice Over" ~Joseph Joubert

"By learning you will teach; by teaching you will understand."  ~Latin Proverb Happy Weekend!!!  It is Friday and I wanted to wish you well for the weekend.  I also wanted to tell you a brief story about someone I adore.  He is a man who I met at the YMCA over 2 years ago.  He was sitting on a bench outside of a group x room waiting for someone.  I sat down next to him and asked him how he was.  We struck up a conversation right away.  He told me how he spent the summers in Idaho studying Wolves.  I called him a renaissance man.  His wife was an instructor there and they would both soon become two of my dearest friends.

In the fall of 2011 he found out that he was going to be moving for grad school and then leaving the country for a few months to research Snow Leopards (there is a lot more to this story than I am giving you… I will save it for another time).  He decided that it was time to really get in shape and wanted to work with me.

I have been working people out, training their minds and bodies since 1996.  Some people are open to doing what I need them to in order to reach their goals and others, well, let's just say that I earn my living.  Now my friend was a completely different story.  He was ready to make some big changes.  He was open to digging into himself.  He was so articulate around his journey to fitness.  He communicated every nuance of his change to me during our stair workouts or HIIT sessions.  He did everything I asked without hesitation.  Watching his mind and body grow and change was like watching magic before my eyes.

I am blessed with doing what I love every single day and I never take it for granted.  I have been successful over the years and am steadily moving forward in my own personal growth and career.  Along the way I have had help with my forward progress.  Mr. WolfSnowLeopard propelled me forward in ways that I can barely express.  The teacher/student relationship is fluid, with each person playing both roles.  Through him being an amazingly open and ready pupil I became the best teacher that I believe I ever had up to that point.  I have always learned from those who have allowed me to teach but he was an exception; we were both ready to rise to another level of self understanding, dedication, growth and awesomeness.

So I want to thank Mr. WolfSnowLeopard for brightening my light.  I also want to thank all of my other students, clients, riders, and athletes for allowing me to be a part of their journey.  Let's keep shining!

"We cannot hold a torch to light another's path without brightening our own."  ~Ben Sweetland

"The true aim of every one who aspires to be a teacher should be, not to impart his own opinions, but to kindle minds."  ~F.W. Robertson

(Good Luck Mr. WSLMan!  Rock on in Tajikistan!!!)

xo

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