the fruit of the spirit is . . . self-control

I've discovered one big difference in doing karate while pregnant with our second kid versus doing it while pregnant with Brigid: the class time is longer.

Our Tuesday night karate classes used to be an hour long. Now they're an hour and a half long. This is a good thing when it comes to training: it gives enough time to really get into learning a specific technique or set of techniques, and allows for the teacher to build lesson on lesson.

But I've discovered that the wall I used to hit at the end of class, I now hit about 2/3 of the way through. I do well for about an hour (Em even told me, "Your kicks look wonderful for someone who's pregnant and off-balance"), but then, all of the sudden, I run out of juice. I think, "Wow, that's it, I have nothing left." And it really is a sudden thing. Very strange.

I don't push myself though. That's one good lesson I've learned from breaking my arms. It's that there are times to say "No, I shouldn't do that, I won't do that." It's just not worth pushing myself when there's other people who might suffer if I do. It's a piece of self-knowledge and self-control that still feels shiney and new, and I'm enjoying learning how to practice it.

-Jess