Eight Miles High: 08.08.08
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
Add comment August 8th, 2008