Meditations on God

Aligning With Our Purpose
If our reason for doing something is strong enough, it makes the how seem a lot less difficult.

When the why in our hearts and minds is in opposition with the why of our actions, we experience internal dissonance. This dissonance causes feelings of confusion or conflict about the path we are on, whether chosen for us or by us, because the reason we are on it does not align with our personal values or goals. If we continue too far and for too long in this direction away from who we want to be, this internal confusion and conflict begins to manifest itself outwardly as frustration, resentment, and worst of all, anger.

When our inner turmoil begins to express itself outwardly, we have to step back and ask ourselves if the path we are on is worth the price we are paying with our happiness and in our relationships. We have to ask ourselves if the why we are following will ever lead us to our true and actual purpose, whether it is a necessary detour, or whether it is a dead end leading us only to dissatisfaction and misery. Sometimes, necessity dictates our path, regardless of where it leads, so we must also be willing to ask ourselves if it is our path or our why that is truly causing our pain.

Regardless of the conclusions we arrive at, we have no right to burden others with the weight of them. While we are truly fortunate if we have others who share in our vision and our reason for pursuing it, quite often our path and our purpose is a weight we must carry alone, at least until its fruits begin to bear out. This process is much easier if we are clear about our why and if our actions align with our reason for taking them.

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.

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May 4, 2020

alignment, burden, conflict, dissonance, goals, journey, mission, path, process, purpose, reason, reasons, start with why, strategy, why
It All Begins With A Spark (Or Many)
Me: I’m stuck, dear. What should I write about today?

My Daughter: It’s your story. You can write about anything you want.*

Quite often, creative work begins as a flicker of an idea, a spark if you will. Most ideas, like most sparks, if not tended to properly, if not given just the right amount of oxygen and fuel, will die out. With some combination of luck and attentiveness, however, one of these sparks might get exactly what it needs to catch, bursting into a bright, beautiful flame that both warms and lights up the space around it.

Much like a fire, most creative ideas, if they are going to grow into something powerful and useful, require a lot more than one spark before they catch. Every one counts, but most flicker and fade, dying out, seeming to vanish into thin air before finding what they need in order to become something more. For this reason, if we are going to have one great idea, we must have many, many more not-so-great ideas.

We never know which spark or which idea will catch, what it will become, or to where it will lead, so we have to keep trying. Inspiration does not simply come to us. We must seek it, pay attention to it, and nurture it.

*What does this all have to do with the conversation I had with my daughter this morning while she ate her breakfast and I made my coffee? That’s the thing. I do not know. I invited inspiration. It answered. When it did, I gave it attention, fuel, room to breathe, and the result was the result.

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.

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May 3, 2020

art, artist, creative, creative process, creativity, ideas, Inspiration, muse, openness, willingness, writer, writing
Need Should Inform Desire (On Contentment)
Contentment begins with aligning our desires with our needs.

Often, what we want and what we need are quite different from one another. Part of maturing as a human being is developing the ability to look beyond the former and embrace the latter, ideally to the point where they eventually converge such that what we need is actually what we want. The level of contentment we experience in our lives is directly related to our ability to do this willingly, intentionally, and successfully.

It should be mentioned that contentment is a distinctly different measure of our internal state from happiness. One does not guarantee the other. That said, while contentment may not always result in happiness, it is doubtful that a true state of happiness can be achieved without first acquiring some degree of contentment.

Our desires are rooted in some combination of hope and fear related to what we will or will not experience, acquire, and become in some imaginary future. Our needs, on the other hand, exist in the present moment as a matter of fact, separate from and independent of any feelings we may have about them. By realigning our attention and our will toward necessity, by accepting and addressing what we need to be, to do, and to have, by wanting this for ourselves before and above all else, we give ourselves a platform of truth off of which to grow, thrive, and to be content with our progress.

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.

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May 2, 2020

desire, dreams, happiness, hopes, life, necessary, necessity, need, reality, truth, wants, will, wishes
Consistency Becomes Truth
Sometimes the greatest form of social proof is consistency.

If we are in pursuit of some higher purpose or goal in our lives, we will inevitably face doubt in some from or another. Others will doubt us, our mission, our strategy, our tactics, and our resolve. We will even come to doubt ourselves at times.

The most powerful weapon against such doubt is consistency. When others have lost faith in us or when we have lost it in ourselves, consistent action in the direction of our goals will prove out. It is far easier to change perception through action than is to change action through perception.

We are all seeking some form of truth, whether it is the truth our own truth. If we want or need others to accept our particular truth, to believe in our purpose, and to support our goals, we must begin with action and we must follow through on that action consistently. Over time, consistency becomes truth.

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.

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May 1, 2020

action, belief, consistency, faith, mindset, persistence, perspective, trust, truth
Our Story Of Becoming
We all need to feel supported in our pursuit of the person we are meant to be.

One of the greatest gifts we can receive from another person is to be believed by them, to have them see or hear the story we are trying to tell about who we are in the world and for them to believe that story. This type of belief is both empowering and uplifting. It gives us the permission we need to explore the places within ourselves we suspect are real and true, but are afraid will not be accepted or supported by the world around us.

We all want to be seen and heard in our own way. Having someone else believe what we are trying to say about who we imagine ourselves to be, even when our ability to express it has not yet fully formed into something clear and powerful, gives us the room to continue to grow into who we are. It tells us that it is okay to try, to fail, and to try again until we get it right, until what we feel and how we express those feelings converge into a single path leading us toward who we are meant to be.

This all takes time. It requires trust in and dedication to the process of becoming. Most of all, the process of becoming demands consistency. Once we know what we want to, or must, say with our lives, we cannot hesitate, we cannot waver, and we cannot stray from our path for too long lest we become lost in a world of distraction and confusion, unsure of who we are, who we are meant to be, and where we are headed. If we want others to believe us, we must first believe ourselves.

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.

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April 30, 2020

be yourself, becoming, belief, believe in yourself, compassion, consistency, express yourself, faith, growth, potential, self expression, support, trust

Aligning With Our Purpose

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It All Begins With A Spark (Or Many)

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Need Should Inform Desire (On Contentment)

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Consistency Becomes Truth

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Our Story Of Becoming

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