Here is a portion of my Nidan (2nd Dan) essay...I keep still striving to do better...to be better, in all aspects of my life.  I really think Karate, and especially Thousand Waves, has helped me to do so...

Senpai Hope Robinson
Another way I think I balance myself is by “showing my work”. I like that phrase because it reminds me of when I was a kid, and math teachers would not give you full credit for an answer on a test if you didn’t show your work, even if your answer was correct. It was to show them that you knew how to get from point A to point B, and that you didn’t take the “easy” way out by maybe cheating or guessing. I feel like I use this a lot, especially in karate. I don’t have the type of build/coordination that I think matches well to karate. I have to work hard at it. I show my work by continuing to show up to class and seeing those ever so slight incremental changes. I am still striving to not compare myself to others, that I need to understand this is my own art, and that I need to own it completely. That doesn’t mean that I shouldn’t try to get stronger, more agile, more precise, just that I need to do it as best I can, in my own time. … I wish I had a video of me doing Taikyoku 1 as a White belt, a Green belt, and an Advanced Brown. I am sure I would be able to see the work and effort I put into the kata, and how because I kept coming back, kept working on the kata, I was able to interpret the meaning for myself, and see the story and flow. … How it is MY story, even though it may be the same moves as others are doing.