BJJ Is Not My Top Priority

I've seen quite a few posts on forums and blogs that are basically saying that if you love BJJ, you'll make it your top priority.

I have to respectfully disagree.

I love taking BJJ. It helps me not get fat, and gets me off my laptop. It is also a very good social tool, as I've made a lot of friends from BJJ. There are times where I *GASP* only train once a week. My average is twice a week. I'll admit that I'm not the best BJJ student.

But I don't really give a shit.

Look, I respect people who can be mat rats. One of our purple belts literally trains every day, and he's a badass. He regularly whoops ass in competitions. I'll never, ever, ever be that good. I don't even really want to be. I'm happy just not getting steamrolled. My point is that not everybody wants BJJ to be their life.

I have a lot going on in the rest of my life. I work full time for the government, I'm an Army Reservist, I'm a husband, a father, a son, an uncle, and a friend. Oh, and I'm also a full time college student. I'll be graduating in May, but I may do grad school. Point of note: I work really hard at school. I've got a nearly perfect GPA and I've managed to complete nearly four years of coursework in two and a half years. Right now, I would say that finishing school is much more important to me than BJJ.

My health is also an issue. So when people say "all you have to do is get on the mat", I have to shake my head and say "Its not that easy for some people." Everybody has their own priorities for taking BJJ. I don't really care if I ever get rank in BJJ. I'm more concerned with other aspects of my life. I really respect people who can make BJJ their life, I just refused to be shamed because I won't.