Meditations on God

The Problem With Winning
The problem with winning is that it makes us believe we are right.

Success can be deceptive.

Or, more accurately, we are easily deceived by success.

Many factors go into our success in any endeavor, some of which are in our control, but many of which are not.

Sometimes luck, good fortune, or even the mistakes of others enable us to be successful more-so than our own skill, talent, or intelligence.

More often than not, it is some combination of these that gets us where we are trying to go.

But it is difficult, if not impossible, for us to separate out the extrinsic from the intrinsic factors that led to our success.

Having no real control over many of the extrinsic factors, we tell ourselves that our success itself proves that we are good or right.

If we allow it to, this has the potential to make us cocky or arrogant.

Blinded by our egos, we then double or triple down on our efforts, believing that we, alone are the reason for our success.

Left unchecked by good sense, generous associates willing to show us our blind spots, or even by the great teacher that is failure, this attitude can get us into all manner of trouble.

‘The Problem With Winning, by Robert Van Valkenburgh

HOLISTIC BUDO: As in Life, so too in Budo. As in Budo, so too in Life.
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July 10, 2022

success
Focus And Opportunity
Simply because we have committed a lot of time and energy to something does not mean that we should continue to do so.

When we find that our efforts are no longer producing the results we want, the best choice is not necessarily more effort.

Instead, we may need to pause, regroup, and redirect our energies elsewhere.

More effort in a fruitless direction is worse than effort wasted, it is opportunity lost.

By focusing on that which is no longer working, we will not see the world of possibilities around us.

We do not get our time back, so we should not waste what we have.

Likewise, we also should not pine with regret over the time we have already spent.

To do so is to steal from our future.

‘Focus And Opportunity’ by Robert Van Valkenburgh

HOLISTIC BUDO: As in Life, so too in Budo. As in Budo, so too in Life.
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July 9, 2022

effort, focus, opportunity, regret, time
Forward Progress
There is no point being upset about someone achieving success in something we, ourselves, were unwilling to work for.

We should be happy for them.

Their hard work paid off and this shows us that ours will as well.

We simply chose to apply our efforts elsewhere.

Our eyes should remain focused on our own path and our efforts directed toward our next steps forward.

Envy and jealousy are enemies of joy.

Why waste our joy on someone else’s success?

‘Forward Progress’ by Robert Van Valkenburgh

HOLISTIC BUDO: As in Life, so too in Budo. As in Budo, so too in Life.
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July 8, 2022

envy, jealousy, success
Ask Or Do Not Receive
If we do not ask for what we want, the answer is always no.

No one is waiting around to give us what we desire.

It is not simply going to be handed to us or dropped in our laps.

We have to speak up.

Knowing that we may be rejected, we have to take a risk and express our wishes.

No one is going to do it for us.

If we cannot or will not advocate for ourselves, the direction of our lives will be dictated by some combination of fate and the wishes or whims of other people, with us having no say in the matter.

The only way for our desires to manifest as reality is for us to speak them into power.

This does not guarantee us the result we hope for, but silence guarantees that our wishes we will go unheard.

‘Ask Or Do Not Receive’ by Robert Van Valkenburgh

HOLISTIC BUDO: As in Life, so too in Budo. As in Budo, so too in Life.
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July 7, 2022

desires, dreams, goals, wishes
Creative Solutions
Seriousness does not solve problems.

We often think that the solution to a frightening or frustrating problem is to take it more seriously or to become more serious ourselves.

By doing so, however, our tendency is to tense up and tension creates resistance.

Instead of helping us, resistance actually hinders our ability to discover solutions to our problems.

Resistance begets resistance, putting us at odds with that with witch we are trying to overcome.

As counter-intuitive as it may seem, when we are faced with an overwhelming situation for which we are seeking a solution, our best course of action is to relax.

By relaxing, we allow ourselves room for curiosity and curiosity breeds creativity.

A creative state, not a tense, resistant state, is the place from which the best solutions arise, and creativity tends to respond better to playfulness than it does to seriousness.

‘Creative Solutions’ by Robert Van Valkenburgh

HOLISTIC BUDO: As in Life, so too in Budo. As in Budo, so too in Life.
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July 5, 2022

creativity, curiosity, relaxation, seriousness, solutions, tension

The Problem With Winning

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Focus And Opportunity

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Forward Progress

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Ask Or Do Not Receive

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Creative Solutions

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