Regroup

I’ve spent the past few weeks digging myself out of some big holes. It is easy for things to get out of control when a couple of things go askew at the same time. I’ve had to take a step back to organize my thoughts so I can prioritize, regroup, and get things back on track.

This added stress has been a good reminder for me that commitment and effort do not guarantee results. There are always factors beyond my control. When I think about it, It does not take much for things to go wrong and most of us are only a couple of simultaneous catastrophes away from homelessness. Somber thought indeed.

“It’s a good thing to follow the First Law of Holes: If you are in one, stop digging.” - Denis Healey (b. 1917)

Everyone Gets What They Get

I read an interesting article in the Vancouver Sun this week that reminds me of the importance of activism. By not accepting responsibility for our own situation we allow mediocrity to run rampant. In a free and just society, everyone tends to get exactly what they deserve.

 I am the creator of all my relationships, personal and professional. I have the power to mould them into whatever shape I choose. If I want my co-workers to respect me, I must conduct my professional affairs accordingly. Conflicts in my personal life are inevitable. The efforts I put into resolving them reflect the value, or lack of, I place on a particular relationship. I know I am judged by my efforts and people estimate their value to me by the time I invest in them.

If I accept mediocrity in any relationship I cannot expect that relationship to not be mediocre. I reap what I sow.

“A reputation for a thousand years may depend upon the conduct of a single moment.” - Ernest Bramah (1868 - 1942)

Quality of Life

Our student I Ho Chuan team made a trip to a senior’s lodge this weekend to entertain the residents with a Chinese Lion Dance and demo. I find myself thinking about the twilight years more often these days. With only one alternative, old age is something that awaits us all.

Quality of life in my later years is something that is important to me. It seems like yesterday that I was looking at thirty year olds and thinking I never want to be that old. Looking back I realize that those thirty year olds were old before their time. Bad habits and lethargy take their toll on everyone. I am thankful for the lifestyle kung fu has inspired me to adopt and the quality of life I enjoy and plan to take with me into my senior years.

“if you don’t set a baseline standard for what you’ll accept in life, you’ll find it’s easy to slip into behaviours and attitudes or a quality of life that’s far below what you deserve.” - Anthony Robbins (b. 1960)

That's It?

I’ve been tracking my pushups since mid 2008 and passed the quarter million plateau yesterday. I’ve been staring at that number - 250,000. It’s a big number but at the same time I can’t help but think - is that all? There is no doubt that 50,000 pushups/year is a pretty decent pace. Yet I feel like I have been doing pushups for so long that my total should be in the millions, not just 250,000.

Before I started tracking my numbers I had a lot of false assumptions about the state of my training. I had become complacent and in retrospect - lazy. When I don’t record my numbers I tend to be aware of everything I am doing but completely oblivious of everything I am not doing. I have wasted many years of potential progress that I can never get back.

My daily training journal has stopped the bleeding of wasted time. I can no longer lie to myself over how hard I am training because numbers are quantifiable and they do not lie.

For me, mastery is found in exploiting every opportunity for growth and recognizing those opportunities in every moment of every day.

“Stop the mindless wishing that things would be different. Rather than wasting time and emotional and spiritual energy in explaining why we don't have what we want, we can start to pursue other ways to get it.” - Greg Anderson (b. 1964)

Thanksgiving

I continue to be blessed with a life with so much to be thankful for. I am surrounded by good, compassionate people and I feel I am living a life of consequence. I have found myself wanting at times but in my life I have never been in need. I am grateful that I understand the difference.

“Given the amount of unjust suffering and unhappiness in the world, I am deeply grateful for, sometimes even perplexed by, how much misery I have been spared.” - Dennis Prager (b. 1948)

Rick Mercer

My whole life, I have never thought of myself as an activist. I’ve always believed in doing what was right, popular or not, but I never went out of my way to publicly take a stand one way or another. As I grow older and hopefully wiser, I realize that silent disagreement can be construed as contentment and support.

Over the past six years I have watched democracy in Canada take a back seat to economic and political priorities. Something the martial arts has taught me is that mindful action can change any situation. Rick Mercer is an activist I admire. He does not hesitate to take a stand and, agree with him or not, you can’t help but respect him. McLean’s Magazine published a good article on him this month - http://www2.macleans.ca/2012/09/21/why-i-rant/#more-295261

We need a few more committed people like Rick Mercer to remind us that democracy and capitalism are not even remotely the same things.

“If we as a nation don’t rant then the powers that be will use that complacency against us.” - Rick Mercer (b. 1969)

Reconciliation

Why do we accept this from our government?

A moral disconnect has permeated into our collective consciousness that continues to polarize society. The left and the right scramble for control of the high ground while destroying the fabric of what it means to live in a free, just society. The majority seem to be oblivious of this contradiction as long as unsustainable economic growth remains the priority.

I’m old enough to remember when news reporting was politically unbiased and trusted as such. Today unbalanced reporting is so widely accepted that people only tune into news sources whose skewed reporting support their own political views. If they do get exposed to a documented fact that does not adhere to their preferred skewed presentation, they write it off as a biased attack on their political leanings.

The west’s foreign policy seems to value revenge over reconciliation and might over right. So much so that we continue to suppress rights and freedoms at home that we supposedly have soldiers dying overseas to protect. At the same time it seems our politicians are perpetuating such a deep divide in our own political landscape and instigating civil unrest that the spectre of civil war can no longer be considered farfetched.

How can we continue to claim the moral high ground in international disputes when we can’t seem to even reconcile at home?

“A nation of sheep will beget a government of wolves.” - Edward R. Murrow (1908 - 1965)