Rick's Kicks Martial Arts

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My mom passed on March 31, 2015.

I read a letter she wrote this morning and brought me to tears. I want to encourage you parents to hand write letters to your children. When they are older they WILL cherish your words of life. My mom loved me as any mother does, but she spoke life into me through letters. Even today I can feel her presence in my heart from just reading her words. It's not important to anyone what she wrote me, but she inspired me to teach and to be a better man through my faith in Christ. So, write those letters and then know that your words carry the power to inspire your children- though they will not realize the spirit of that letter until maybe 40 years later. Please don't waste time writing me back or thumbs up; just got write a letter to them or just say "hello" to a long lost friend.
Have a day that reminds that there is more to this life than consuming and bills. We have a higher calling and the days are short.

The privilege of bringing children into the world carries with it the responsibility of teaching them the fundamentals of sound character.
One of life's greatest joys is a sense of wonder that accompanies the arrival of a tiny new human being into the world. But that joy is accompanied by tremendous responsibility that perfectly encapsulates the need for personal initiative. You can provide children with all the physical advantages of a good childhood, but unless you strive to set a good example for them to follow, you will know only dismay as they reach adulthood and blossom into purposeless drifters.

Your personal initiative, whether or not you're raising a child, must always incorporate exemplary behavior. You cannot take ethical shortcuts, big or small, without other people observing them and assuming that this behavior is something you wouldn't mind having turned back on yourself. Certainly, you will make mistakes, but if you have always striven for the best course, others will remember it and treat you accordingly.

The Student Loan Forgiveness Scam | PragerU It’s hard to imagine how we could screw up higher education any more than we already have, but we’re about to — if we make sweeping student loan forgiveness…

Just a reminder that the days seem endless and at times crushing our spirits; God is always making a way for us. I wanted to share this not because “look at me moment”; rather just know our love/ prayers/ labor is never in vain for our children. They test us and bring us us to the point where we are sleepless and anxious. But our God uses these to build our faith and trust in His strength and not our own. I have many moments of doubt and fear for sure. I want to encourage you to have faith,hope, and the greatest of these is love. I still care and cannot be untrue to myself.

Big Boy Makes Appearance at Local High School Class Reunion Cistercian class of 1988 rules!

Don’t blame children who are bad. Blame those who failed to discipline them.

Ralph Waldo Emerson once observed, “Our chief want in life is somebody who will make us do what we can.” Although children doubtless do not recognize it at the time, they crave discipline, particularly during their formative years. Discipline defines boundaries for them, provides security, and is an active expression of a parent’s love. Most important, it prepares them for the challenges of adulthood. If your childhood was less than perfect, you are in good company. Most of us have experienced difficulties at one time or another, and we all make mistakes from time to time. The good news is that while your environment as a child will have a profound influence upon the person you become, it is not the sole determinant. The person you choose to be is entirely up to you. Only you can decide who and what you will become in life.

Great for men to hear especially now!!

Be Dangerous But Disciplined - Jocko Willink & Jordan Peterson Join the conversation on Twitter/Instagram: Excerpt from JOCKOPODCAST 98

Interesting story

Book Review: How We Make Sense of Mental Illness In “Strangers to Ourselves,” Rachel Aviv shows how the stories we use to explain mental distress shape our lives.

"The man who views the world at 50 the same as he did at 20 has wasted 30 years of his life."
- Muhammad Ali

https://youtu.be/13LRcVSkY0c

Don't watch if you are afraid of heights

- YouTube Enjoy the videos and music you love, upload original content, and share it all with friends, family, and the world on YouTube.

Money is either a good or bad influence, according to the character of the person who possesses it.

It’s true. Money has no character, no personality, no values. Its actions only reflect the desires of its owner. Money can build great hospitals and schools, or it can be gambled away or squandered on meaningless possessions. Money may build museums to house beautiful works of art, it may construct beautiful houses of worship — or it may be used to create instruments of war and destruction. As you build your personal wealth, make sure you build your character by setting aside a portion of your income to help others. Choose a church, a charity, or a cause that you can enthusiastically support. Then give of your money and your time in support of that cause. The primary beneficiary of such noble actions is always the one who gives, not the one who receives.

No one could ride a horse if the horse discovered its real strength. The same thing is true for people.

Horses are massive, gentle creatures who are by far larger and stronger than the men and women who handle them, yet they docilely obey the commands they are given. It doesn’t seem logical that a large, powerful animal would allow itself to be mastered by a human being, yet we have been able to use our intelligence to dominate the animal kingdom. You can use these same forces to allow the positive side of yourself to dominate the negative. A Positive Mental Attitude allows you to tap the source of great power that resides within you, enabling you to accomplish things you never before believed were possible.

As I sat yesterday and listened to the sermon, the emphasis was not listening to negative doom and gloom in our lives and have "hope."
What do you hope for? Where does your hope take you? If hope is a wish, that is not good. My hope is comes from the advent season. I began my school by stepping out of the boat in 1998 to establish Rick's Kicks. I look back and see the blessings that I was bestowed and cherish the relationships. Someone asked me if "I miss the kids?" The answer is most "definitely." My core nature and faith have not changed from who I was before I started the school.

Just know that I will always be available to help your family or children in any way possible. The role of my life has shifted however, the purpose of my life remains unchanged. I pray daily to dwell in the shelter of the most high in whom I trust.

I "hope" you are blessed and find peace during this cultural upheaval. The good news is God does not change with presidents or IPhones.
Merry Christmas!
Vigilant,
Rick Goss

If you don’t know what you want from life, what do you think you will get?

The great majority of people in the world drift through life, never realizing that their future will be the one they create for themselves. The minority who achieve great success are people who know what they want and have a plan for realizing their objectives. They know what they want and how they are going to get it.
Your goals should be specific, they should be measurable, they should have a deadline for their achievement, and they should be divided into manageable pieces.
Know exactly what you plan to achieve, when you plan to achieve it, and how. Review your progress regularly, correct your course when necessary, and never, ever give up.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

You can’t control others’ acts, but you can control your reaction to their acts, and that is what counts most to you.

No one can make you feel any negative emotion — fear, anger, or inferiority — without your express permission. There will always be people who find perverse enjoyment in upsetting others, or who simply play upon your emotions so that they can use you for their own selfish purposes. Whether or not they are successful depends entirely upon you and how you react to their negative behaviors. When you are forced to deal with such people, recognize from the outset that they are trying to upset you, not because of something you may have done to them, but because of some problem they have with themselves. Tell yourself, “This isn’t about me. I will not allow this person to upset me. I am in control of my emotions and my life.”

Friendship recognizes faults in friends but does not speak of them.

True friendship acknowledges imperfections, accepts them as part of our individual makeup, and focuses on our positive aspects instead of expounding upon our faults. Your friends don’t like you to comment upon their failings any more than you like them to criticize you. When your friends are discouraged or disappointed in themselves, a word of encouragement will serve much better than a sermonette. To be the kind of friend you would like to have, be a good listener, offer advice when you are asked for it, and treasure the trust that your friends have placed in you. Praise them for their achievements and sympathize when they fall short, but avoid offering “constructive criticism” or playing devil’s advocate. Most of us expect more from ourselves than anyone else ever would, and we are painfully aware of our shortcomings. We don’t need to be reminded of them by our friends.

Dear Lord,

Thank you that you are in my life, that you are working in all my situations today. Please give me the strength that I need to be able to do good to everyone that I will encounter today. Help me to reflect your goodness to those around me. Help me to see opportunities where I can be the good today to whoever needs it. Help me to not focus on what I think I need, but to see that you have placed me right where I am today so that I can do good to someone. Help me to trust you as I encounter those difficult people, and show me how to do good to them. Lord, give me strength to not grow weary in doing good.

In Your Name I pray,

Amen

Here is a really insightful thought about your "TEENAGER."

Remember those who backed it up by putting their butts on the line where many put their mouths these days. Grateful for the men/women who daily sacrifice their freedoms so we may enjoy our comforts.

1. Eagles fly alone at high altitude and not with sparrows or with other small birds. No other bird can go to the height of the eagle. When Moses went to commune with God on the mountain, he left the crowd at the foothills. Stay away from sparrows and ravens. Eagles fly with eagles.

2. Eagles have strong vision. They have the ability to focus on something up to five kilometers away. When an eagle sites his prey, he narrows his focus on it and sets out to get it. No matter the obstacle, the eagle will not move his focus from the prey until he grabs it. Have a vision and remain focused no matter what the obstacle and you will succeed.

3. Eagles do not eat dead things. They feed only on fresh prey. Vultures eat dead animals, but eagles will not. Steer clear of outdated and old information. Always do your research well.

4. Eagles love a the storm. When clouds gather, the eagles get excited. The eagle uses the storm s winds to lift it higher. Once it finds the wing of the storm, the eagle uses the raging storm to lift him above the clouds. This gives the eagle an opportunity to glide and rest its wings. In the meantime all the other birds hide in the leaves and branches of the trees. We can use the storms of life to rise to greater heights. Achievers relish challenges and use them profitably.

5. The Eagle tests before it trusts. When a female eagle meets a male and they want to mate, she flies down to earth with the male pursing her and she picks a twig. She flies back into the air with the male pursuing her. Once she has reached a height high enough for her, she lets the twig fall to the ground and watches it as it falls. The male chases after the twig. The faster it falls, the faster he chases it. He has to catch it before it falls to the ground. He then brings it back to the female eagle.

The female eagle grabs the twig and flies to a higher altitude and then drops the twig for the male to chase. This goes on for hours, with the height increasing until the female eagle is assured that the male eagle has mastered the art of catching the twig which shows commitment. Then and only then, will she allow him to mate with her! Whether in private life or in business, one should test commitment of people intended for partnership.

6. When ready to lay eggs, the female and male eagle identify a place very high on a cliff where no predators can reach. The male flies to earth and picks thorns and lays them on the crevice of the cliff, then flies to earth again to collect twigs which he lays in the intended nest. He flies back to earth and picks thorns laying them on top of the twigs. He flies back to earth and picks soft grass to cover the thorns. When this first layering is complete the male eagle runs back to earth and picks more thorns, lays them on the nest; runs back to get grass it on top of the thorns, then plucks his feathers to complete the nest. The thorns on the outside of the nest protect it from possible intruders.

Both male and female eagles participate in raising the eagle family. She lays the eggs and protects them; he builds the nest and hunts. During the time of training the young ones to fly, the mother eagle throws the eaglets out of the nest. Because they are scared, they jump into the nest again.

Next, she throws them out and then takes off the soft layers of the nest, leaving the thorns bare. When the scared eaglets again jump into the nest, they are pricked by thorns. Shrieking and bleeding they jump out again this time wondering why the mother and father who love them so much are torturing them. Next, mother eagle pushes them off the cliff into the air.

As they shriek in fear, father eagle flies out and catches them up on his back before they fall and brings them back to the cliff. This goes on for sometime until they start flapping their wings. They get excited at this newfound knowledge that they can fly.

The preparation of the nest teaches us to prepare for changes;

the preparation for the family teaches us that active participation of both partners leads to success;

The being pricked by the thorns tells us that sometimes being too comfortable where we are may result into our not experiencing life, not progressing and not learning at all. The thorns of life come to teach us that we need to grow, get out of the nest and love on. We may not know it but the seemingly comfortable and safe haven may have thorns.

The people who love us do not let us languish in sloth but push us hard to grow and prosper. Even in their seemingly bad actions they have good intentions for us.

7. When an Eagle grows old, his feathers become weak and cannot take him as fast as he should. When he feels weak and about to die, he retires to a place far away in the rocks. While there, he plucks out every feather on his body until he is completely bare. He stays in this hiding place until he has grown new feathers, then he can come out.

We occasionally need to shed off old habits & items that burden us without adding to our lives…

It is also a real and unquestionable fact of human life and culture that a person's character is strengthened most during the darkest days~ Malcolm J. Mcleod.

This last year has been darkness for a lot of people. For the first time n their life, they stood in the darkness. The value they place on that is what can fuel progress or tail spin into oblivion of hopelessness. Let's be vigilant and keep an watchful eye for those who have had a profound sadness toward the lockdown. There are many who are terrified to rejoin the daily grind. We walk through the fire because we have faith hat there is one who walks with us!! Who walks with you? Fortify your faith each day!!

This is good news!!

The world's first 'infinite' plastic The way we normally recycle plastics is a downward spiral of waste and degraded materials, but there is another option – turning plastic back into the oil it was made from.

Hello and Happy Mother's Day!! I would like to know if your student would like to test for Black Belt this Summer on the 1st Saturday of August? If your child is a red belt or low black they would be eligible for testing- please email me [email protected] to give me an update. I know this has been stressful on your family, but I would love to see them advance!

I am selling the floor matts and kicking bags. The matts are 6'x 3' and weigh 50 lbs a piece. If you want some, I am planning on selling the unused equipment. There is just too much.
Also, I have a snow cone machine that would be great for events and parties. Let me know if you are interested??

“You can't love your mother or father if you don't also have the capacity to grieve their deaths and, perhaps even more so, grieve parts of their lives.”
- Glenn Beck, The 7: Seven Wonders That Will Change Your Life

Although I seem away, I am not that far from remembering your children and the blessings they are to my life. From my youth to adulthood, I have learned that my impatience and need to be heard only aggravates, my calm / silence is the what really soothes the moment.