Know your limitations, push them, but also respect them.
We are who we are and, event though we can become better versions of ourselves, there are certain aspects of our nature that we simply cannot overcome. Instead of constantly fighting against these perceived limitations, we must learn to live with, embrace, and even accentuate them. Our limitations are not where our potential stops, but where we begins.
If, throughout our lives, we have been diligent in our personal growth, we have tried our best to push through the edges of who we are, but there is only so far that we can go before our natures demand that we stop. When we confront the boundaries of ourselves and what we are capable of, when we come to the edge of our limitations and can go no farther, we have to choose how to proceed.
We can continue on to the point of illness or injury, we can quit trying and give up altogether, or we can accept what we have discovered about ourselves and choose to use this knowledge to become more of who and what we are.
Our limitations, as much as our assets, are our palate to paint with. With our own unique combination of strengths and weaknesses in hand, we find our true potential to be creative with who we are and what contribution we make in the world. Understanding and accepting our limitations opens us up to our true potential for growth and change.
Holistic Budo: As it is in budo, so too it is in life. As it is in life, so too it is in budo.
Robert Van Valkenburgh is co-founder of Taikyoku Mind & Body and Kogen Dojo where he teaches Taikyoku Budo and Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, as well as a founding member of the Severna Park and Baltimore Holistic Chamber of Commerce.
Artwork by Ana, except where otherwise noted.
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