Starting next week, I will be playing hockey 2-3 times per week.  Then, a month later, I will be teaching a class or two (don’t know how many yet) in the evenings.  Shortly after that, I will be resuming refereeing adult and youth ice hockey.  All this while carrying a full time job, wife, continuous learning, working out, and other responsibilities.  I have been asked by many people how or why I continue to push myself that hard, and all I can say is that I enjoy it.

Sitting idle really is the most boring thing to me.  Since I was young, I have always tried to better myself.  To build upon a good year by surpassing it with a better next year really is something I have grown to embrace.  This goes for everything from work to play.  As I have gotten older though, I have found that physically, trying to do things better every year may not be the most achievable.  I am not as quick as I once was.  Part of bettering yourself is getting out there and honing your skills.  Playing hockey once a week has not made me a better player.  I was playing better when I was playing 2-3 times a week on a regular basis.  Just like I will be a better college instructor when I am teaching more than once a week.  Just like I will be a better referee when I ref more than once a week in the fall/winter/spring.

I realize that as I get older, my skills in net are going to diminish.  I am concentrating on bettering myself right now and for the immediate future.  We all should be looking to make ourselves a little bit better every day.  It could be anything from physical to mental.  It could be a skill-set or a way of acting.  This is why I push myself and why I am going to be pushing myself hard starting this month.  No more sitting idle.