To The Anvil

I faced a serious disappointment this week.

I didn't get a Bodypump or Bodycombat class on the new schedule at one of my gyms.

I am not surprised. There are only so many class times to go around and all the instructors at that gym are more experienced. And all of them are capable and dedicated.

Never the less, I was still disappointed, no matter how unrealistic it was to hope for a class of my own at this point.

I still have all my freestyle classes. The formats of those classes are even similar to Bodypump and Bodycombat which is some comfort to me.  One of them is a barbell class, the other is a kickboxing class. I choreograph them myself using fitness music I purchase and I enjoy that.

But I pursued the Les Mills certifications in 2014 so that I could teach their classes and use their material.  But until I get a Bodypump or Bodycombat class of my own at a gym with the liscenses, I can't do that.  And I want to teach Les Mills classes because I think they are superior to what I create on my own.    

So now that I am not teaching a Bodypump or Bodycombat class, I go back to merely subbing other instructor's classes until another opportunity comes my way. That probably won't be for at least a few months.

In my free time, I've been reading Tolkein's The Return of the King and I came upon a quote in the book that really inspired me in the midst of my disappointment.

There's a lot of context that I don't have time to share here, but suffice it to say that the dwarves had just won a great victory. They destroyed the powerful Orcs who had taken their old home Moria from them.  But there remained another enemy, Durin's Bane, who was too great and too far removed into the depths of Moria for them to conquer at the present time. So even though the dwarf king, Thorin, had fulfilled what he set out to accomplish, he would not be able to enter his old home again. He would still have no throne to sit upon, no realm to rule over.  Given the choice to live in other kings'  palaces or to work as a simple blacksmith, he said,

"To the anvil. The hammer will at least keep the arms strong, until they can wield sharper tools again!"

When I read that, the quote went right to my heart and I thought of my situation at work.  I have accomplished what I set out to do in becoming a certified Bodypump and Bodycombat instructor.  But I have yet to get a Bodypump or Bodycombat class of my own.  That is beyond my power to change right now.  So, like Thorin, I will return to the anvil and my anvil is my freestyle classes.  Humble though they be, they give me ample opportunities to practice my craft and they keep my arms strong until I am given another chance to do what I really want to do someday, teach a Bodypump or Bodycombat class of my own.