Attitudes and Appetites have Lasting Effects

I do many things in my life. I am an amateur author, I teach martial arts for a living, I founded and operate a Christian Ministry, but really, if you look at my choices in what I do, they are to affect people’s lives and make them better. (I will not argue the point about my religious bent right now, it is something I do to hope for better lives for those who follow my Ministry.) I am also a jokey person. I don’t take myself too seriously and I joke around. My friends know this and my friends joke back.

Sometimes, however, I forget when a joke when not made sure it is a joke to all can have ramifications beyond what a person thinks. How, when I make a joke, if the other person doesn’t know it’s a joke, my joke can leave a lasting effect which can hurt relationships and people. Last night brought all this to realization. Well, really someone’s response to events which occurred last night really brought all this to a head. I made a joke between me and a student last night and I think she took it as a joke (especially regarding her tweets this morning). However, she tweeted something this morning which made me think about how important my relationships are and how one small joke could seriously hurt those relationships.

My student tweeted:

Is it bad that I keep thinking about that 15 minute span at Taekwondo last night when @RBMayIV went from calling me his best student and then I called him a butt and he took my belt away for ten minutes which was slightly mortifying… pic.twitter.com/pFDPaRxyuU

— Nicholette Neilson (@Nicholette121) August 8, 2018

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I took it a step further in m mind as well. How one joke can ruin a person’s outlook on themselves and destroy their self-esteem. This, of course, is the absolute last thing I would ever want to do. This whole thing has made me take a hard look at myself and how I live my life. I will definitely have to be more careful to totally communicate with my friends and students when I am only joking. I don’t think I told her I was.

This is a real lesson, not just to me, but for a lot of people. We need to make sure when we are joking, and “teasing”, that people know we are joking. If we are joking around a person doesn’t know those same words and/or actions can become either really offensive or really hurtful. I will try to do better in the future.

December 2016

Well what is there to say? I’ve been rather busy of late. I haven’t accomplished anything really to show for it, but this is what happens sometimes. Sometimes we end up not accomplishing anything tangible, but we accomplish those things which we need. I’ve been in thought a lot, recently, working through different ideas and different project which have either been on my plate or I’ve put to the side to make room on this metaphorical plate.

I have started using a Bullet Journal recently to great effect. It has helped me immensely in prioritizing and setting goals (a subject which I am fondly acquainted). One of the goals I had in my monthly log for November was “Assess Fiction Writing”. I’ve been feeling really discouraged recently with my ability to write to fiction. I finished a few projects in the past but nothing seems to be going anywhere recently. I start a project and six months later I’m still working on the same project; a year later and it’s still not finished. What’s the deal? Am I just unable to write in fiction?

I’ve come to a few conclusions on this front and I’ve decided not to stop writing fiction. It is a release for me. It is my hobby which I use to destress and put my overly creative mind to use (I won’t say good use because I am unsure as to whether any of my stuff is any good). I realized through this time of reflection on my writing is I get bogged down in the trenches. I get lost in the minutiae rather than putting the story to paper. This may be the mark of poor writer, but that is where I am. The epiphany I had over these last couple of weeks was I don’t need to be stuck in the undergrowth looking at the tree and saying, “I’ll never make it to the top.” I need to climbing the tree! This means when I find myself stuck on a scene, summarize it and move on, don’t, don’t, do not get caught in the under details. A lot of times these details are the parts which are cut from the story during the editing process anyway.

Well, that is what I’ve come to realize. Whether it will help me finish projects, or not only time will tell. Whether I’m supposed to be an author or not… well I hope so.

Most of the what I’ve been busy with (besides owning my own business which takes up most of my time) is with Believe Better Ministries and Breath of God Ministries.

That’s what I’ve been doing. You can read my thoughts on the election on the Believe Better Ministries page. I will warn you it is Christian.

Hope everything is going well with you all.

—
RB

Podcast Coming Soon

The RB’s Universe Podcast is being rebooted… again. Well for the first time, but since the RBsUP is a reboot of a podcast well that means that it is technically getting rebooted again. I have been working tirelessly to produce new content and rework older content. If you read my blog often you will know a lot of what I’ve been up to. The RB’s Universe Podcast will possibly be simulcast on the Imonoran Empire Project’s Blog as well allowing for it to reach an even broader listener base.

I only got one episode into it last time and failed. The question is Why? There is no simple answer to that, but really the only explanation is life (just because it is a one word answer does not make it simple). When I did the Imonoran Empire Cast I was able to write whenever I wanted and bring the podcast out in my spare time. I didn’t have a life besides working on my writing. Then in season two of the IEC I got a steady girlfriend put more energy toward school and my life started to head down a path that would change it forever.

Well… that path has led me to here, where I am right now. I went from a lifeless author and podcaster wannabe to someone who had large responsibilities on his shoulders. I got married got a job, then opened a business (my own Martial Arts Studio) and now I am a father. But this does not preclude me from podcasting, at least it hasn’t stopped me from writing. I am still writing, editing, and producing fiction. I am getting very excited as I work my way toward publishing some of it (again).

All of that writing to say this: I miss podcasting! I believe I’ve said that before, but the fact remains that I miss it. I am working on a lot things and being pulled in many different directions right now, but I need this for me. I will be publishing this podcast the only question is time. Right now, I don’t have an answer to that question. I don’t know when the podcast is going to start. I don’t have a deadline or a timeline. I don’t have a date or time to start, but I do have tentative schedule for what stories will be coming up on the podcast.

That is all I have for now, I can tell you that the RB’s Universe Podcast is coming the only variable is time. (To steal a line from one of my favorite podcast novel series.)

2015.0425

Well to jump right and let you know what is happening with me I have to tell you what I’ve been doing. First of all as I have posted in several other posts I run my own Martial Arts School. This takes A LOT of my time. I think there is no other way to put it than that. Running a business is exhilarating and I am enjoying it immensely. I feel as though I have been hugely blessed by what I am doing with my martial arts school.

The second thing that is going on in my life is I have changed focus with my fiction writing. I am now putting everything on the back burner except one project. I am calling that Project Tetran. This is my one and only project that I am working on as far as writing fiction is concerned. I am not ready to share and details or shed any light on just what exactly Project Tetran is, but I will let you know that I am hoping to come out with the first story in the series soon.

Finally the third thing that is going on my life is that I am currently putting most (if not all) effort (that is not already taken up by running my business) into ministry. I have posted about my other blog on here before and the writing that I was doing on it, but now I have changed the focus a little. I am now using it as a platform for ministry. The name of the ministry is: Believe Better Ministries. I have been putting a lot of effort into this work because if there are two things that I want to do for the rest of my life they are Serve my God and Teach Taekwondo.

By starting this ministry I feel as though I am accomplishing both of those goals, not just one anymore.

In a nut shell that is what I am currently doing. A lot of my energy is also going into getting ready to be a dad. My baby girl, Sophia Rae May, will be born sometime around September 2nd.

Working Hard or Hardly Working

Well I have not posted nor podcasted or anything, because I have been really busy. I am working my butt off at my Martial Arts Studio. I have been doing a lot of thinking and you can see some (not all) of those thoughts if you go read the latest post on my my Believe Something Better site. I’ve completely revamped the purpose of that blog in order to show what I plan to do with essays I write and post on the site. I love feed back and love to have open conversations, so that is one of the things that I hope to have on that blog.

I am also trying to prepare to publish my first book. I have the Lost Falchion and other Stories on the editing table. I’m working on some writing (both fiction and non-fiction) but mostly I am prepping for publishing. My major focus right now is not writing or any sort of art, but it is my Business.

I am currently running a fundraiser for my school. We are trying to raise money to finish of our school. We have quite a bit of work that we are doing on the building as well as we have to buy pads and training tools for the school as well. So that is where most (if not all) of my focus is going. Anything that I have left at the end of the day is going into my puppy. He is a 4 month old Standard Poodle puppy and he has so much energy. He is great!