This past weekend I was under the weather. It actually started mid-week, coming home each night after work wanting nothing more than to go to bed and sleep. I didn’t go to open mat on Friday. I probably could have, but figured it would be better if I didn’t. Saturday and Sunday I spent almost entirely in bed alternating between sleeping and watching Cheers on Netflix.
Monday morning came and I did not get up and go to my normal conditioning class. I didn’t pack my bag with my gi for Monday night technique and sparring. I didn’t even think of going to no-gi technique. I’m hoping that on Tuesday I’ll at least be able to make it to technique class.
But as I was sick this weekend and thinking about missing training I realized as much as I love BJJ, I’m glad I’m just a hobbyist. If this was my livelihood it would have been horrible to be sick and having unplanned absences from training. I don’t miss work often for being sick, but when I do, I don’t have to worry about someone getting better than me at writing code, because it’s not a competition. I’ll still go in to the office in a few days and pick right back where I was. However, if I was a professional fighter or elite level BJJ player, and I missed workouts and training because I was sick, I think I’d be worried that everyone else was getting better while I was laying in bed watching Sam, Norm, Cliff and Woody.