Archive for August, 2008
What seemed like an inevitable upset was unrealized when Michael Phelps summoned up an unimaginable burst of speed to win the Beijing Olympic 100mm butterfly. Although we are not athletes competing for gold medals, this dramatic sports moment can be a powerful lesson for all of us. Phelp’s stunning victory, by one hundredth of a second, epitomizes coach Yogi Berra’s wisdom: “It ain’t over till its over”.
We all have goals and wishes - to be successful at what we do in business, in creativity, as a parent, as a partner. Our dreams are important to us. Invariably life brings us challenges and unforeseen obstacles that may discourage us. At its worst, adversity and disaster may seem so relentless that we are ready to relinquish the dream…we want to quit.
In challenging times our cherished goals may elude us. What would happen if we perceive the situation as changing, as full of possibility? What if we stay with it and refuse to give up hope. Our steadfast friend Thomas Edison said,”Many of life’s failures are people who did not realize how close they were to success when they gave up”.
This is the attitude and the heart of a champion. Staying focused and seeing it through echoes the tradition of martial arts. Martial artists learn to move over, under, around and through obstacles. Our physical, contemplative and thoughtful daily practice strengthens us. It gives us the resolve to push through tough times and look ahead as we navigate the waters. There is no way to know what will transpire, but we will keep swimming the race until we reach the end of the pool. We may even win by one hundredth of a second.
Like Yogi said, it ain’t over, till it’s over.
Lawrence & Toni
August 23rd, 2008
A vast human sea of 2,008 martial artists clad in white move in graceful precision at the opening ceremony of the Bejing Olympics. It is difficult to believe it isn’t CGI. It isn’t. One figure’s perfected skill is reflected in the other, and the next, as they form a breathtaking cloud of Chinese martial arts merging both slow motion Tai Ji and fast Wu Shu with a staggering scale. It is immediately apparent to the viewer that something incredible is happening, and the original combative intent of martial arts is transcended. This is more….
Perhaps after centuries of absorbing Zen and Daoist thoughts and culture, the Chinese hold the martial arts more as an expression of aesthetic movement in service to art and philosophy. Up close in the Olympic ceremony, each individual martial artist is kicking and punching, but from a bird’s eye view, these 2008 separate bodies merge as one. It is a single flow of living energy as the circular patterns change from moment to moment. One may immediately understand this liberation and beauty beyond Asian thought — as many of us from everywhere in the world reacted with a universal nod.
On another level, this can be seen as a visual metaphor for Daoism, which holds all of life as an infinite rhythmic flow of of things forever in transformation. The magic is in consciously being a part of its movement. We often become so focused on ourselves and our own rhythms that forget that we are all part of something much bigger. Maybe when we stop, even for a moment and step back, we may glimpse the big picture….and flow in consonance to its pulse. Ours is a shared experience. Remember what you saw in that Olympic martial art moment. Find your tempo.
When you use mindful movement to align yourself in thought, action & emotion as one moving part of the whole, you are moving closer to the source. And in that deeper connection there lies the power and beauty of life.
Lawrence and Toni
PS — Read more about this in our newsletter! Or talk about it in the forum.
August 16th, 2008
08.08.08 is an auspicious day to commemorate the Beijing Olympics. Eight is considered an auspicious number in Chinese culture. The more eights, the merrier. It is a number of luck, prosperity, and also, perfection.
With each Olympic year we renew our awareness of what perfection means: here it is the quest for excellence through athletic competition. Politics and national pride aside, there is purity in the anticipation of athletes surpassing limitations of what we believe is physically possible. Records are shattered. Human spirit soars to higher standards. It is exhilarating!
Pearl S Buck said, “The secret of joy in work is contained in one word –excellence. To know how to do something well is to enjoy it”.
To achieve excellence, both athletics and martial arts share common attributes – discipline, sacrifice, focus and training. If there is a single word as a key to achieving excellence in martial arts or sports and any field in life for that matter, it is practice.
In Chinese, the exclamation “hao gong fu!” often accompanied with a thumbs up means “great skill!” and is an enthusiastic compliment with a tone of admiration for skillful mastery. In time this term became a Cantonese colloquial term that became associated with martial art skills.
The characters above are for the word “Kung fu,” which actually means any skillful achievement with a commitment of time and effort. In other words consistent practice over time. Where do you excel? Is it the kung fu of martial arts? The kung fu of work? cooking? art?
Here are eight thoughts for achieving kung fu in what you do:
1. Do what you love.
“Success is not the key to happiness. Happiness is the key to success. If you love what you are doing, you will be successful.” (Albert Schweitzer)
2. Aspire.
“Limitations live only in our minds. But if we use our imaginations, our possibilities become limitless.” (Jamie Paolinetti)
3. Keep learning.
“One must learn by doing the thing; for though you think you know it, you have no certainty, until you try.” (Sophocles)
4. Work hard.
“I learned that the only way you are going to get anywhere in life is to work hard at it. Whether you are a writer, an athlete or a businessman, there is no getting around it. If you do, you’ll win — if you don’t, you won’t.” (Bruce Jenner)
5. Keep raising the bar.
“Good is the enemy of great.” (J. Collins)
6. Practice.
“Excellence is not a singular act, but a habit. You are what you repeatedly do.” (Shaquille ONeal)
7. Be Patient.
“You can’t plant the seed and pick the fruit the next morning.” (Jesse Jackson)
8. Make an effort.
“You have to give 100% in the first half of the game, and if that isn’t enough, in the second half you give what’s left.” (Yogi Berra)
Lawrence & Toni
August 8th, 2008
The Dark Knight is filled with summer blockbuster car crashes, bombs and explosions. When all of the smoke clears – a disturbing fire is still burning…It is the scorching flames of human emotion. “I choose chaos,” says the Joker with his melting face of evil. He is the over-wound clown busting out of the box. He is a catalyst for chaos. He is the shadow side.
Let the games begin.
How does the Joker do it? He searches for the shadow side in everyone and creates situations to rattle judgment and destroy balance. He tears at the social and moral fabric with a rusty knife. The dark heart of that psychological cruelty preys upon people’s conflicts, fear, anger, doubt, suppression, ego – and the subsequent erosion of values.
If Batman is the dark knight, Harvey Dent is the white knight on a powerful horse. He is a symbol of law, order and justice. Idealistic, full of promise, a rising star….and he has farther to fall. The brutality he encounters at the Joker’s hand is a slow and deliberate process. When faced with painful loss after loss, what’s left? The rawness (literally and figuratively) of Dent’s transformation through suffering becomes rage, revenge, retribution. He has lost. The Joker is the victor.
We have lost too.
Jung said,“Taking it in its deepest sense, the shadow is the invisible saurian tail that man still drags behind him. Carefully amputated, it becomes the healing serpent of the mysteries. Only monkeys parade with it”.
How do we manage that spiritual surgery?
Conflict and crisis are part of our human drama.The shadow side resides in each of us. Under stress we may find ourselves behaving out of character. And these are challenging times everywhere in the world. How do we avoid the trap that Dent stepped into?
Here are 5 ways to fight back when the Joker and all that chaos appears in our lives:
1. Maintain your practice or discipline, even during difficult times.
During a crisis our normal routines are disrupted, relationships are strained and our lives become chaotic. We stop training, and instead we start to invest our energy in a battle with life. This is a mistake. Movement, meditation and contemplation help ease stress & keep you focused on the moment. This is what being present is all about.
2. Avoid justifying any questionable actions.
Our actions may arise from emotional upheavals which are disconnected from logic. Crisis situations often brings out our negative behavior and actions that we would consider unthinkable under normal circumstances. It is at these moments that we must become aware of our inappropriate responses and not rationalize them. And that requires discipline, reason -– and experience.
3. Examine your judgment and be honest on how you are framing your decisions.
What’s really going on? Acceptance that something bad IS happening as it is happening is the start of managing a challenge. We should assess our motives and be conscious of the long range consequences behind our choices.
4. Seek out the truth of who you are.
Adversity challenges our entire being – mentally, emotionally & physically.We may discover we are not who we thought we are. Letting go of that ego image creates awareness, which in turn creates new options.
5. Practice forgiveness.
Forgiveness is freedom. When we can let go of our hurts and attachments to related emotions — maybe it’s anger, denial, blame or guilt, even shame – we release pent up toxins. They are poison to our body & spirit. Acknowledge the conflict, make amends. Forgive others. Forgive yourself too.
This will help to break us out of our habituated behavior and open us to new responses to challenges. Let it go, and set yourself free.
Toni Josephson
August 2nd, 2008
