Connect the Dots!

“Thank you for everything you have done for my child. When he started kung fu, he was struggling to get along with his school mates, and his marks at school were atrocious. Not anymore. You have made our son into a focused and confident boy. Thank you. Unfortunately he wants to try something new so this will be his last month in kung fu. Again, thank you for all you have done for him.”

The absurdity of the above quote is something I have to deal with on a continuous basis. It is on par of waiting to start kung fu until you first get into better shape. Do people really not hear how incongruous their words are while they are saying them?

When I was in grade four, I tried to quit school around fifty times that year. I absolutely hated everything about school at that time.  Why didn’t my mom and dad let me quit? Exactly. So why the heck are some parents allowing their child to make a decision that is a decision only a parent has the wisdom to make?

Opportunities are not complicated. Take advantage of them and you benefit. Ignore or walk away from them and you don’t. Nothing is for free. Kung fu is like weight lifting. If you lift weights your whole life and then decide to stop, you do not get to keep the muscles you gained through weight lifting. The muscles will disappear. The same goes for the benefits from kung fu. If you want to keep those benefits, you have to keep training.  Again, nothing is for free.

“Wisdom consists of the anticipation of consequences.” - Norman Cousins (1915 - 1990)