Poverty

I have been meeting with other members of our community to discuss poverty reduction strategies. Today we discussed the resiliency aspect of the topic and I found myself handcuffed by my thoughts. 

If we're working within the existing parameters that have created the issues that presently exist, how can resiliency be addressed? 

Treating symptoms is not the same as solving problems. A municipality committed to eliminating poverty is not going to make a lot of headway unless we have a provincial government with the same level of commitment. 

One step at a time. 

"I am for doing good to the poor, but I differ in opinion about the means. I think the best way of doing good to the poor is not making them easy in poverty, but leading or driving them out of it." - Benjamin Franklin (1706 - 1790)

Time to Heal

The past two weeks have been a challenge to train, teach, and engage. I have significant inflammation in one of my knees that is conspiring to keep me off the mats. 



I usually try to push through and around these issues when they flare up but this time seems to be different. Any type of activity is exasperating and prolonging the situation.



As what tends to happen in these situations, life has presented me with an opportunity. A focus group I am part of has a few meetings coming up that are going to interfere with my teaching. Hopefully by taking some time off the mats to attend these meetings, my knee will get a chance to recover enough to allow me to get back to training and teaching the way I am used to within a couple of weeks. 


Always one step forward, no matter what. 

"Life is like riding a bicycle, to keep your balance, you must keep moving." - Albert Einstein (1879 - 1955)

Intent in Hindsight

A fundamental tenet of mindfulness is aligning our actions with our intent. This is why intent plays such a crucial role in the six harmonies of kung fu. Yet what is often missing in a person’s approach is an awareness of realtime intent.

We all can identify instances and situations where we are embroiled in a pursuit that we used to have a deep passion for but now we just seem to go through the motions. What used to stimulate us has just become white noise. What we used to do for pleasure and benefit is now an inconvenient responsibility. What used to be a career is now only a job.

Even though they seem to be polar opposites, the difference between mastery and mediocrity is surprisingly small. That small difference can be found primarily in your intent. Completing the exact same actions with two different attitudes will generate two different results.

If I am completing a task as if it is a hoop to jump through as opposed to it being tool to help me improve myself, the outcome I experience from completing that task can be vastly different. Maintaining a positive intent in our actions is crucial for mastery.

Positive intent cannot be in hindsight, it must be present when we take action. This is where many people fail. They complete their task and reflect after the fact on the benefit of doing such a task. If the awareness of the benefit arrives only after the task is completed, the proper attitude at the time of action was not in place.

Differentiating between a hoop and a tool cannot be an analysis that takes place after action. Your action is what is important so what you are thinking at the time of the actions is just as important. Therefore hindsight is not helpful when analyzing whether or not you did something because it was a hoop or a tool.

Intent must be maintained in realtime, not hindsight.

“How you look at it is pretty much how you’ll see it.” - Rasheed Ogunlaru (b. 1970)

Evolutionary Growth

We tend to, and have been conditioned to, expect instant and obvious results when we apply ourselves to accomplishing a specific goal. A person only needs to checkout the average gym in January every year and then compare the energy and crowds to what you see a couple of months later. All the potential and intent the new year brought has been mostly burned up by March.

What is missing for most people is the understanding of the importance of incremental progression. Lao Tzu has said that “A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step.” On an intellectual level, we all understand that. On a practical level, very few accept this.

Approaching our progression and growth as an evolutionary process changes everything. Setbacks become gifts, hoops become ladders, and destinations become journeys. Our perspective and understanding can open doors of opportunity or it can slam them shut. It is either the biggest limitation to our success or the strongest catalyst in our personal growth.

"One can choose to go back toward safety or forward toward growth. Growth must be chosen again and again; fear must be overcome again and again." - Abraham Maslow (1908 - 1970)