Meditations on God

The Help We Need
It is very difficult to receive the help we need if we are unwilling or unable to ask for it.

Inevitably, we all need help in some form or another.

There is simply too much in this life for us to handle alone.

We are not meant to.

It is prideful and foolish to even try.

We will stumble.

We will fall.

This is all part of the process.

It is a lesson.

We will repeat this cycle over and over again until we learn that we need help.

We need family.

We need friends.

We need support.

But, before we can truly receive the help we need, we must acknowledge the need itself.

We must be open and receptive to it.

This requires vulnerability.

Asking for and accepting help requires courage.

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 Kogen Dojo Self Defense Academy where he teaches Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu.

All photos by Robert Van Valkenburgh unless otherwise noted.*

*Robert Van Valkenburgh’s black and white photography can be seen at My Darkness To Light

Follow Robert Van Valkenburgh and Holistic Budo on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Tumblr, and LinkedIn.

If you found this post helpful or meaningful in some way, please feel free to Share, Comment, and Subscribe below.
Share this:
X
Facebook
Like Loading…
November 10, 2020

assistance, courage, faith, family, friends, friendship, help, need, support, vulnerability
Change Starts Here
Instead of being worried or frustrated by the fact that certain things are beyond of our reach and outside of our control, we should take comfort in this knowledge.

This knowledge gives us a baseline, a starting point, and a firm footing from which to pivot.

Knowing what we have no power over in our lives gives us clarity and focus.

It tells us to look elsewhere to make a change, to be of service, and to do our best work.

If we know what we cannot control, we also know what we can.

Our attention and our effort should be directed toward that which we can affect, not that which we cannot.

Giving power to that which we have no power over is a path of hopelessness and despair.

Our power resides in that which we can change and those who we can help.

No matter how trivial or insignificant it may seem, by starting here, with what is in front of us, we empower ourselves and give ourselves hope.

Change starts small and it starts here, where we are, in this moment.

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 Kogen Dojo Self Defense Academy where he teaches Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu.

All photos by Robert Van Valkenburgh unless otherwise noted.*

*Robert Van Valkenburgh’s black and white photography can be seen at My Darkness To Light

Follow Robert Van Valkenburgh and Holistic Budo on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Tumblr, and LinkedIn.

If you found this post helpful or meaningful in some way, please feel free to Share, Comment, and Subscribe below.
Share this:
X
Facebook
Like Loading…
November 9, 2020

change, control, courage, fear, hope, hopelessness, power, purpose, service
Finding Our Way Through Doubt
There will be times when we will doubt ourselves, our choices, and our path.

This is only natural.

When we find ourselves feeling unwaveringly confident in all things, absent of doubt, it is a sign of either our foolishness or our ignorance.

Questioning, not confidence, is the path of wisdom.

Confidence without doubt is hubris.

Wisdom is attained only through curiosity.

Curiosity followed leads us down the path of errors, mistakes, and even failure.

This is the path of knowledge, not to be avoided, but pursued, embraced, and celebrated.

Doubt should not impede us.

It should inspire us.

Doubt is a teacher.

As such, it should be honored, explored, and learned from.

It is only on the far side of doubt that we will find ourselves and our way.

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 Kogen Dojo Self Defense Academy where he teaches Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu.

All photos by Robert Van Valkenburgh unless otherwise noted.*

*Robert Van Valkenburgh’s black and white photography can be seen at My Darkness To Light

Follow Robert Van Valkenburgh and Holistic Budo on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Tumblr, and LinkedIn.

If you found this post helpful or meaningful in some way, please feel free to Share, Comment, and Subscribe below.
Share this:
X
Facebook
Like Loading…
November 8, 2020

curiosity, doubt, errors, failure, knowledge, mistakes, questioning, self knowledge, wisdom
Empathy For Other
We cannot claim to have empathy while also claiming to not understand why others have different beliefs, opinions, and values than us.

We cannot claim compassion while also claiming ignorance of the other.

If we cannot imagine how and why someone sees the world from a different perspective than we do, we cannot say that we have empathy for them.

If we cannot understand why someone wants different things for themselves, their family, and their future than we do, we cannot say that we have empathy for them.

There is no empathy without understanding.

And, there is no need for empathy without differences.

Empathy without other is a hollow and meaningless sentiment.

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 Kogen Dojo Self Defense Academy where he teaches Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu.

All photos by Robert Van Valkenburgh unless otherwise noted.*

*Robert Van Valkenburgh’s black and white photography can be seen at My Darkness To Light

Follow Robert Van Valkenburgh and Holistic Budo on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Tumblr, and LinkedIn.

If you found this post helpful or meaningful in some way, please feel free to Share, Comment, and Subscribe below.
Share this:
X
Facebook
Like Loading…
November 7, 2020

caring, compassion, differences, empathy, ignorance, other, understanding
Compassionate Understanding
Compassion is the decision to understand even if we do not agree.

Sometimes, in fact, compassion is needed most when we disagree most.

We do not have to approve of a person’s beliefs, words, or actions in order to feel for them.

Compassion does not require our consent.

It requires our understanding.

Care, concern, and even pity are all manifestations of compassion.

We can have compassion from afar.

We can be compassionately disengaged.

Compassion does not require our intervention or our involvement.

It does not require us to solve some perceived problem.

Compassion is simply the ability to see, hear, and even feel where others are coming from so that, even if for a brief moment, we open ourselves up to understand, without judgement or criticism, why they are who they are.

Compassion gives us the power to be other, to separate ourselves from who we are not in others, and to be stronger in who we are and who we want to be.

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.

All photos by Robert Van Valkenburgh unless otherwise noted.

Follow Robert Van Valkenburgh and Holistic Budo on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Tumblr, and LinkedIn.

If you found this post helpful or meaningful in some way, please feel free to Share, Comment, and Subscribe below.
Share this:
X
Facebook
Like Loading…
November 6, 2020

community, compassion, empathy, relationships, sympathy, understanding

The Help We Need

Share this:

Change Starts Here

Share this:

Finding Our Way Through Doubt

Share this:

Empathy For Other

Share this:

Compassionate Understanding

Share this: