Meditations on God

Honoring Values
If we want to be useful to others, we will need to understand how integrity manifests in their lives.

A good place to start is to look at where they are unwilling to compromise.

This tells us a lot about a person and what they value most.

It may be with time, money, or family.

Or, it could be with all or none of these.

An unwillingness to compromise shows us where a person’s boundaries are and, at the end of the day, integrity is about maintaining and protecting our boundaries.

We cannot be useful to others if we are constantly crossing their personal boundaries, if our words, actions, and demeanor compromise their integrity.

It is possible that, over time, with enough trust, their boundaries will expand to include more of what we want, need, or value, but this does not happen quickly or easily and it certainly does not happen by constantly pushing and pulling at their integrity.

Service begins with respect and an essential component of respect is honoring that which others value most.

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.

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November 5, 2020

boundaries, integrity, respect, service, usefulness, values
Choosing Our Integrity
At some point, we have to decide what integrity looks like for us and then we must do our best to maintain it.

Integrity is not the same for all people.

We all have different values, ideals, and demeanors.

Integrity is about knowing who we are, who we want to be, and who we do not want to be.

It is about knowing what we are willing to live with and what we simply cannot tolerate or accept in ourselves and in others.

It means having a standard of conduct, a set of principles, and a moral code, and it means not violating these or allowing others to.

There will be times when we will have to fight for our integrity.

Other times, we may need to walk away in order to keep it.

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.

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November 4, 2020

behavior, choice, code of conduct, conduct, integrity, morals, principles, standards
Meaningful Necessity
It is important for us to understand the difference between necessity and luxury.

Through this understanding, we are empowered by the knowledge of what we can live with and without.

With this vital truth held deep within our hearts, we become capable of fully appreciating all of the excess in our lives for what it is.

It is neither good nor bad, but it is also not necessary for our survival.

We could, if we had to, live with a lot less.

This does not mean that necessity, alone, should be our goal, however.

Less is not an ideal.

Only having that which is necessary, with no hope or desire for more, is an existence without hope.

Hope is, in fact, necessary.

Less of what does not matter and more of what does is the goal.

A life full of joy and meaning is the goal.

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.
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November 3, 2020

hope, joy, luxury, meaning, necessity, purpose, survival
Processing Choice
It is up to us to decide how we process the information we receive from the outside world.

Regardless of what others do and say, we are responsible for what we think, how we communicate, and how we behave.

There is no way to abdicate this responsibility.

There are no excuses, justifications, or explanations that will suffice if we try.

Our mind and our will belong to us and us alone to do with as we choose.

If we allow the words and actions of others to dictate our thoughts and behavior, whether by self-destructively internalizing them or by turning them destructively outward onto others, we are no longer in control of ourselves and our lives.

Even this is a choice, however.

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.
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November 2, 2020

actions, choice, decisions, deeds, responsibility, thoughts, will, words
Amending Imperfection
We will say and do things we wish we had not, that we do not want to define the impact we make on the world, and which we wish we could unsay and undo.

Each of us is imperfect.

We will make mistakes.

We all fail to live up to our ideals, to meet our own standards for ourselves, and we certainly fall short of the expectations other have for us.

Sometimes, this is a matter of the ideals, standards, and expectations set for us by ourselves and others being unrealistic and unattainable.

Other times, however, we are simply wrong.

When we are wrong, it is up to us to make it right, quickly and directly.

We must take ownership of our mistakes, be accountable for our words and actions, and not make excuses or give unhelpful explanations.

While we can do our best to amend our wrongs, if we repeat the same errors over and again, our amends are for naught.

Our goal must be to do better, to correct our behavior, and to be the person, from this moment forward, that we failed to be in the past.

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.
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November 1, 2020

amends, behavior, correction, errors, failure, imperfection, improvement, mistakes, wrongdoing

Honoring Values

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Choosing Our Integrity

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Meaningful Necessity

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Processing Choice

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Amending Imperfection

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