Meditations on God

Trading Excitement For Creativity
In order to be creative in one aspect of our life, we may need to be boring in another.

Creativity is not an infinitely flowing wellspring we can tap into any time we choose.

It requires space.

It requires dedication.

And, it demands attentiveness.

Being that we are limited in our capacities for each of these, if we want to be creative, we often must give up something else first.

We have to learn how to say no to some of the other activities, people, and distractions that take up space in our lives so that we can dedicate our efforts and attention to that which we are attempting to create.

This does not mean that we should quit our jobs, abandon our relationships, or give up our other hobbies.

That would be both selfish and foolish.

It does mean, however, that we must decide for ourselves and for the sake of our creative work exactly which aspects of our lives are essential and which are nonessential for our happiness.

We must then take the necessary action to limit the nonessential so that we can give our time, energy, and focus to the essential.

If we want to do something that matters, at least to us, we may need to sacrifice some of the excitement, some of the social activities, and some of the entertainment consumption that normally occupies our free time.

We may have to decide to be a little bit more boring.

It will not always be easy.

Others may not understand.

But, this kind of sacrifice is not really a sacrifice if it means that we are doing something that is more meaningful with our time.

It is our life, after all.

It is our responsibility to do the most with it that we can.

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.

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

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October 11, 2020

attention, creation, creative, creative space, creative work, creativity, distraction, focus, life, time
Our Friends In Failure
There is very little chance that we will make progress at anything worthwhile without first embracing shame, embarrassment, and frustration.

Failure is not just part of the process for improvement.

It is the process.

Failure is our teacher.

But, failure hurts.

Failure is always painful.

Failure brings with it all kinds of shame, embarrassment, and frustration.

That is the price we must pay for success, however.

We will fail.

And, we will experience and struggle with all of the emotions, all of the doubt, and all of toil and torment that come with failure.

There is no way around this.

There is only through.

If we want to get where we are going, we must learn to make shame, embarrassment, and frustration our friends.

With these bedfellows of failure as our allies, no one and nothing can stand in 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.

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

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October 10, 2020

achievement, change, embarrassment, failure, frustration, goals, shame, success
We Need Others (On Improvement)
In order to improve to our greatest capacities, we need other people.

There is a lot of work we can do on ourselves on our own.

There is a lot of self analysis, soul searching, and self improvement that can and should be done by us and us alone.

But, none of that work matters very much without the relationships that affect and are affected by our attitudes, beliefs, and behaviors.

None of that matters if we are alone.

Relationships force us to look at ourselves and our interactions with the world around us in new and important ways that we could not conceive of in a vacuum of isolation.

Relationships force us to grow, change, and evolve.

We need feedback.

We need friction.

We need reflections.

We need each other.

And, no one said it would be easy.

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.

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

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October 9, 2020

community, growth, improvement, progress, purpose, relationships, success
Room For Change
Inertia is not a reasonable justification for continuing onward in the wrong direction.

We try to make the best decisions we can with the information we have, but, inevitably, the information we have will change and, with it, our decisions and direction must change as well.

Simply because we have committed to one path does not mean it is the best path.

Obstinate overcommitment in the wrong direction just because it is where we were already going will almost certainly lead us to failure.

Life changes, people change, and our circumstances change.

We must always remain flexible, not in our principles, but in our course of action.

We have to give ourselves room for mistakes, for growth, and for 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 Kogen Dojo Self Defense Academy where he teaches 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.

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October 8, 2020

change, choices, committment, evolution, growth, inertia, journey, options, path, way
On Fear And Bravery (Meaningful Action)
“Did you know that people get nervous before they do something brave?”
—My Daughter

Fear does not really go away.

It is part of our nature.

It exists to warn us of risk.

It exists to tell us that we are in danger.

We experience fear when there is a threat to our physical, psychological, or emotional well-being.

Meaningful action is always frightening because it is always risky.

It always has some element of danger, even if only with regards to our reputation, social status, or finances.

Meaningful action is always threatening because it is synonymous with change and change can be terrifying.

If we are waiting for fear to subside before we take meaningful action, we will never take meaningful action.

That which is brave is brave because it is frightening.

There is no bravery without fear.

We are all afraid of something.

Fear is not a choice.

Fear just is.

Bravery is the choice.

Bravery is the variable.

The choice is whether we are going to avoid or embrace that which requires bravery, whether we are going to be afraid and do nothing or we are going to be afraid and do something meaningful.

Bravery is measured in meaningful action.

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.

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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October 7, 2020

action, bravery, change, choice, courage, daring, fear, vulnerability

Trading Excitement For Creativity

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Our Friends In Failure

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We Need Others (On Improvement)

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Room For Change

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On Fear And Bravery (Meaningful Action)

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