I have discovered another challenge, although it is not the type of challenge we have been giving to each other. I don't know if I am the only one to recognize this or if all of you have noticed the same thing but I have discovered a challenge hidden within the Ten Tigers program. The challenge is simply a point of view.
Before the Ten Tigers program came into existence, all of my activities in hung gar have been inspired by a desire to learn and do more in the art. This desire has spawned a love of martial arts. It is always easier to do something you love because of the desire to do it anyway. As I started into the program, my desire was to improve my skills and learn more in a shorter period of time. Now, 4 months into the program, I have caught myself viewing the activities as requirements from time to time. During these times the activities are viewed as something that must be done. They are performed and completed because they are required rather than out of the love of fulfilling a need and desire. Herein lies the challenge of perspective.
I find I must occasionally consider my reasons for doing what we are doing. I want to look at the requirements as guidelines to improve my fitness as well as my martial and performance skills. Sometimes this is not the case. Sometimes I look at them as a list of requirements that must be done each day. I perform them from the sterile perspective of necessity rather than the deeply fulfilling perspective of desire and love. The challenge is to adjust my perspective at those times. To find the desire again and apply it to exactly why I am doing push-ups, sit-ups, stances, etc. on top of the physical demands of my job.
Am I the only one experiencing this? Am I alone in this challenge?
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Before I read this, I was thinking about this kind of thing too. How much have we let this ten tigers program become a part of our lives, and how much are we resisting? What if we all just quit, because of those times when it's no fun, it's not for the love of it, it's too much, etc.? We're all friends, we could all agree that we've bitten off too much, it's not fitting, a year's too long, and whatever else comes to mind.
ReplyDeleteAt midnight last night, I was finishing up stances, wondering what I used to do at midnight. I realized how much I had changed because of these requirements, how much the awareness of my goals had infiltrated each day of my life. No longer is it something that gets done just when there's time for it. I make time for the things that are important to me, and the support from this program helps me to remember what's important.
Sometimes it's impossible to see the significance, though. We all struggle. When I was sick, I was so depressed about the physical requirements (and other stuff) that I couldn't even think about them. I try to think of those times as just part of what it means to persevere. If it were all fun and games all the time, anybody could do it.
But, on another note, I do think you need an easier job, or more reasonable supervisors, or something!
Much like a romantic relationship. At first there is the romance, the "falling" part of the courtship. When the other can do no wrong, and just their name causes the heart to do funny things. Eventually you start to realize things. Some subtle, some less so. You start to realize that he/she can do wrong. You start to realize that the initial falling sensation has stopped. A lot of people abandon the relationship at this time, they think they have lost "that lovin' feelin'". Others realize that it is now time to actually work at the relationship. It is time to learn how to be with that person at all times, and not just when the endorphins color everything rosy red. Relationships require maintenance. The ten tigers program requires work. If one does not maintain a relationship, it fades. If one does not work at the ten tigers program, it too will fade.
ReplyDeleteIt's easy when the endorphins are running. True dedication is training when you'd rather be sipping that coffee, or tea, or resting, or playing computer games.
In a good relationship, the falling sensation should recur, if not as often. There are people who seem like friends, but when you get past the initial layers, there's not enough reward for the work. Then there are those who, when you get into their layers, are full of value. A good friend, a good relationship, a worthwhile art, all should give that falling feeling pretty often. It's what keeps the romance going, and it's what pulls us through the down times. Everything worth having is work, but if you don't love the work (not always, but often), you may be on the wrong path with the wrong people.
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