Master Dave McNeill - Living Hero #10

When I first pondered documenting my ten living heroes, Master Dave McNeill immediately came to mind. I barely knew him at the time and as such it was difficult for me to verbalize my reasons for choosing him. Now two years later I can’t say that I know him much better but the rational behind my choice is much clearer.

I first met Master McNeill on the Alabama Build Project in April 2008. Anyone who knows me understands how awkward I am in social situations and how difficult it is for me to make casual conversation. Traveling alone across the continent to spend the better part of a week with a bunch of people I had never met before, in a place I had never been before, was way, way out of my comfort zone. Within a few minutes of my arrival, Master McNeill and his wife Mary Ann went out of their way to make me feel at home and take the edge off my social ineptness. Over the course of that week I came to realize that perhaps Master McNeill had not gone out of his way, this just was his way.

A few weeks after I returned home from Alabama I received a surprise telephone call from Master McNeill. He had called for no particular reason other than to check up on how I was doing. We spent 45 minutes on that phone call (his dime) talking about martial arts pioneers, martial arts history, and the current state of my knee after my latest surgery. The conversation was fantastic and I couldn’t stop smiling for a week.

My latest issues with my legs should have taken their toll on my mental and emotional state by now yet my attitude is more positive than ever. I am on top of my game in so many aspects of my training despite my limitations and Master McNeill has been the biggest influence on my outlook. He has offered advice, treatment, and tremendous support throughout my ordeal. Thinking back to my first trip to Alabama I can remember the lineup of people waiting for Master McNeill to treat their aches and pains. Despite having put in 12 hours of heavy labour himself on the build project, he had time for every single person who needed him. This is his way.

Master Dave McNeill is the most engaged person I have ever met. When you find yourself in his presence, he doesn’t just make you feel important, he makes you singularly significant. Most importantly, by his actions, he inspires you to be a better person. I can’t think of a better role model for someone who wishes to change the world

“We are formed and molded by our thoughts. Those whose minds are shaped by selfless thoughts give joy when they speak or act. Joy follows them like a shadow that never leaves them.” - Buddha

Can't Complain

Breathing in, breathing out.

A week of thanks for the friends who support me, for my peers who step up when I am lacking, and for the health and lifestyle I enjoy.

“Be who you are and say what you feel because those who mind don't matter and those who matter don't mind.” - Dr. Seuss (1904 -1991)

Take One For The Team

I have spent a large part of this week trying to inspire and motivate my student UBBT team to step up and bring their participation level up a notch. There are so many motivational traps that we can fall into over the course of a year that it is an almost certainty that there will be multiple challenges popping up to tax resolve.

The biggest issue I am experiencing with my team is their inability to maintain a team perspective. When a person is not focused on their role within a team they tend to make bad decisions with good intentions.

Not wanting to be perceived as whiner by asking for assistance forces one to face their trials alone. What is being forgotten in this scenario is that if one team member falters, whether he is faltering publicly or not, he drags the whole team down with him. What should a hockey goalie do if he knows he has a pulled groin and can't possibly go down to block a shot? Should he tell his team or should he keep this information to himself? What is best for the team? Each member of a team must ensure their perspective is such that they are more cognizant of the team concept and as such they must share their insecurities and failures with their teammates. Open honesty - that's what accountability is all about.

“Accountability breeds response-ability.” - Stephen R. Covey (b. 1932)

Greed = Guilt

People continue to deny global warming is a mankind influenced phenomena. They expend an amazingly large amount of energy passionately refuting any argument to the contrary. The thing they have going for them is time. It is impossible to prove that the current global warming crisis isn’t just part of a natural cycle. I guess if a person chooses, they can pretty much justify any choice no matter the consequence.

Sometimes we are so tied up in our personal convictions that we lose sight as to what is logically the correct moral choice. Whether or not global warming is influenced by mankind’s decisions, the world we leave behind will be a reflection of our values and what is left will ultimately be our legacy.

We all should be consuming to live, not living to consume.

“I'm yet another resource-consuming kid in an overpopulated planet, raised to an alarming extent by Hollywood and Madison Avenue, poised with my cynical and alienated peers to take over the world when you're old and weak.” - Bill Watterson (b. 1958)