{"id":373,"date":"2026-04-19T20:53:17","date_gmt":"2026-04-20T00:53:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/graciebarra.com\/northville-mi\/?post_type=news&p=373"},"modified":"2026-04-19T20:55:32","modified_gmt":"2026-04-20T00:55:32","slug":"4-20-go-your-own-way","status":"publish","type":"news","link":"https:\/\/graciebarra.com\/northville-mi\/news\/4-20-go-your-own-way\/","title":{"rendered":"4\/20: GO YOUR OWN WAY"},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Choose your own path in life, and don’t let anyone steer you away from your dreams…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"template":"","meta":{"article":"\"\"\r\n\r\n \r\n\r\nThis weekend we ushered our son off on his first big adventure.\u00a0 It\u2019s very weird as I write this as it is the first day of his journey that he has ever been off totally on his own.\u00a0 The picture above is from the ferry boat as he heads back to his dorm at the Mission Point Resort on Mackinac as we were leaving the island.\u00a0 I have a much bigger appreciation for how difficult it was on my mother when I went to college, 7 hours away from home.\u00a0 This is nothing new in the world of parenting, of course.\u00a0 I always assumed his first dorm experience would be at a college with people his age.\u00a0 Instead, it is in a dorm with men and women of all different ages and experiences\u2026\u2026.and you know\u2026..that\u2019s pretty cool as well.\u00a0 He is going his own way.\r\n\r\nWhen I was growing up, I never followed the crowd.\u00a0 Many of the things I liked to do were outside the norm.\u00a0 Primarily among them was juggling.\u00a0 I taught myself how to juggle 3 balls when I was about 10, but it wasn\u2019t until my first co-op experience that I met a friend who could juggle 4 balls and he very quickly got me hooked.\u00a0 About 18 months later I became the 3rd person in the world to ever perform a 7-ball shower pattern.\r\n\r\nHere is the only proof I have.\u00a0\u00a0 VIDEO<\/u><\/a>\r\n\r\nUnfortunately, for the juggling purists out there I know they will rat me out as this is not a true full juggle as the last 2 balls needed to be caught in my right hand.\u00a0 But rest assured, there were many other successful attempts.\u00a0 (Sadly, Guiness would not include me in their publication even though I tried.)\u00a0 Interestingly, the first person to ever perform this pattern was a woman on the Isle of Tonga, as juggling in a shower pattern is actually part of the female culture, with the woman able to keep 3 balls going the longest is said to be the next woman to find her husband.\u00a0 Ok, I REALLY digressed there, but I hope you found that interesting.\r\n\r\nWhere was I?\u00a0 Oh yes, not following the crowd.\u00a0 Doing martial arts as an adult I would say is definitely not following the crowd.\u00a0 One of our Muay Thai students was talking about going into work once with a black eye and getting all kinds of questions.\u00a0 Years ago at work someone else was telling me about someone they worked with that would come in with black eyes and cuts on his face, and they just couldn\u2019t understand.\u00a0 But for those of us that are doing it, it is such a natural part of what we do that I don\u2019t think any of us think anything about it.\u00a0 I\u2019ve gotten to the point in life where I think it\u2019s weird that most other people don\u2019t ever have any visible cuts or scrapes on their bodies.\u00a0 When I was a kid, it seemed like everyone in school had permanent scabs on their elbows and knees, and there was almost always someone in school with an arm or a leg in a cast.\r\n\r\nWhen did it become weird to have bruises and scrapes?\u00a0 I\u2019ve gotten many comments over the years asking me why I do this with the multitude of scrapes and bruises I have received.\u00a0 There are too many reasons to list here.\u00a0 But at the heart of it, I love it and it makes me feel alive.\u00a0 To me, it seems like many more people in today\u2019s society are trying to live the \u201csafe\u201d life.\u00a0 Don\u2019t take any chances.\u00a0 Don\u2019t risk getting hurt.\u00a0 Don\u2019t to things that we\u2019ve been told we are too old to do.\u00a0 Follow the crowd as you get older, find a favorite TV show, chose the \u201ceasy\u201d life, and just coast into your twilight years.\u00a0 In my opinion, you need to cast those people aside.\u00a0 Don\u2019t follow the crowd.\u00a0 Don\u2019t stop taking risks.\u00a0 Ignore the naysayers.\u00a0 They just don\u2019t want to be around people that show them the things THEY could have done but chose not to.\r\n\r\nNot following the crowd has led me to the best experiences of my life.\u00a0 Taking calculated risks has created a life worth living.\u00a0 Stepping out of my comfort zone has brought so many amazing people into my life.\u00a0 But here is the thing:\u00a0 For that to have occurred, it has also required THEM\u2026.ie, YOU\u2026. to step out of your comfort zone as well, because I never would have gotten to know anyone in the gym had you not chosen the road less travelled as well.\u00a0 Follow your dreams, not the crowd.\u00a0 Surround yourself with people that believe in your dreams and will cheer for you as you achieve them.\u00a0 Surround yourself with people that know how to get things done instead of those that say it\u2019s too hard, or the risks are too high.\u00a0 God made you for a purpose, whether you know it or not.\u00a0 Follow Him and his vision for you, the vision that is currently on your heart, the one you know is there whether you have admitted it to yourself or not.\u00a0 He never intended for you to follow the crowd, that\u2019s why there is only one of you.","featured_image":"","featured_image_id":"","featured_article":""},"categories":[],"class_list":["post-373","news","type-news","status-publish","hentry"],"yoast_head":"\n4\/20: GO YOUR OWN WAY - Northville<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/graciebarra.com\/northville-mi\/news\/4-20-go-your-own-way\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"4\/20: GO YOUR OWN WAY - Northville\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Choose your own path in life, and don't let anyone steer you away from your dreams...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" 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