Meditations on God

A Little Perspective Goes A Long Way
Some days, all we can do is to show up and that is okay.

There is no doubt that, at the end of each day, we feel better knowing that we accomplished something or that, at the very least, we put in a little bit of work toward our personal goals or our dreams. Sometimes, however, the day gets ahead of us and we never quite catch up. We feel ourselves being dragged in by its undertow, tossed around, struggling to find our bearing or catch our breath, and then unforgivingly tossed back on the shore, shaken, frustrated, and powerless.

Regardless of how well we have prepared, how strictly we stick to our plans or our schedules, and no matter how strong our will may be, there will always be circumstances that arise which are totally outside of our control. If too many of these crop too quickly, or at the same time as one another, our day no longer belongs to us and what we perceive as order gives way to chaos. Frustratingly, this may even happen more than once in the same day.

On days like these, when we feel beaten down and lost, it helps to keep in mind that at least we showed up and made it through, and we get to try again tomorrow. Perhaps we can take a quiet moment to reflect on what went wrong and why, but also what went right, even if what went right went totally unnoticed by us or anyone else at the time that it happened. While we may not be able to change our past experiences, we can change our perspective on those experiences and, through that, change the way that we approach tomorrow.

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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April 29, 2020

challenges, difficulty, obstacles, perspective, presence, showing up, struggles
Patience And Persistence (A Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Lesson)
Be unphased while defending and unrelenting while attacking.

If we are open and receptive to them, many of the skills and lessons learned from Brazilian jiu-jitsu (BJJ) transfer over into our lives off the mats. Through rolling (BJJ sparring), we learn over time how to be unphased when we are on the defensive and how to be unrelenting when we are on the offensive. That is to say, we learn how to be calm and patient when we find ourselves under pressure and how to be tenacious and persistent when applying it.

When we are under pressure, when we are under attack, if we become impatient and lose our heads, we make mistakes that could result in our defeat. The squirming and flailing that come with fear only prove to make our situation worse, exposing us even further, giving our adversary more openings through which to attack. The path to escaping or reversing a bad position is found through both the maintaining of our own integrity and the calm, patient, and strategic application of leverage in the proper direction(s).

Once we are out of danger, we must begin moving forward unrelentingly, doing our best to stay ahead of the blocks, counters, and reversals that we will inevitably confront along our path. This is not the time to look back nor is it the time to be reckless, and we must always understand our own strengths and weaknesses so as to protect our flanks, but, once we gain traction, we can not give up our ground. If we are to be victorious in our endeavor, we must move decisively and aggressively forward, always being careful to neither over nor under-commit in the direction of our desired outcome.

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.

Photo of Robert Van Valkenburgh at Kogen Dojo by Mike Oswald Photography

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

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April 28, 2020

achievement, attacking, bjj, brazilian jiu-jitsu, defending, direction, goals, jiu-jitsu, losing, patience, persistence, pressure, tenacity, winning
Return To Your Center (Be Kind)
Kindness is never a wasted effort.

When we are kind to others, we begin to change and they begin to change. This change may not be immediately observable, by us or those to whom our kindness is directed, but a small change occurs with every exchange of kindness nonetheless. If applied consistently, these infinitesimal, often imperceptible changes have the potential to add up to something dramatic and powerful over time.

We have our work cut out for us if we want this type of change to stick because we are working against many other, equally powerful forces. Within each of us are a hundred forms of fear, selfishness, and prejudice trying to obstruct or reverse every act of good will with a justification or an explanation as to its insignificance. As we get older, as our beliefs and behaviors begin to solidify, these malignant forces become stronger and more resistant to positive change, but that is why we must be dogged and unwavering in our efforts to be kind to and for ourselves and others.

Of course, we will fall short of this ideal. No one can be kind always and in all ways. Each of us will become tired, hurt, offended, frustrated, and frightened at one point or another, or sometimes all at once, in a way that prevents us from being kind or receiving kindness. The key is to find and consistently return to our center, the place within ourselves wherein there is no fear, there is no anger, there is no selfishness, there is only compassion, generosity, and kindness, the place from which positive change ceaselessly emanates.

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 27, 2020

anger, center, centered, centeredness, change, compassion, empathy, exhaustion, fear, frustration, generosity, giving, graciousness, kindness, positivity, selfishness
Expression Creates Reality
Positive change begins with positive expression.

The ideas we put into the world shape our reality and the reality of others. The way we express ourselves, in word and deed, has the power to change our attitudes, perceptions, and the attitudes and perceptions of others. By changing the way we express ourselves, we empower ourselves to make a positive impact on our own life and the lives around us.

What think, what we say, either out loud or in writing, and what we do affects us all in a very real way. It affects the way we think, the way we behave, and the future we create for ourselves and for others. We get to decide, in every moment, and every expression, whether we want to create a world that is more positive and harmonious or more negative and discordant.

Obviously, we are not alone in this, as there are many other forces acting on us and the world around us that we cannot control. Empowerment begins not with focusing on the aspects of our lives over which we are powerless, however, but with focusing on and leveraging what we do have control over. Empowerment begins with focusing on ourselves and how we express ourselves, our ideas, and our will.

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 26, 2020

change, creation, empowerment, express yourself, expression, impact, perception, positivity, power, reality, self expression, will
Balance Is A Dynamic Skill
There is no balance without turmoil.

Life will never be truly fair and our relationships will never be truly even in terms of what is given and what is taken. Some people will always be more fortunate while others are less so, and some people will always give more of themselves than is necessary while others will always try to take more than is needed. While this may sometimes feel wrong, it is simply the way of things, and, instead of giving in to either denial or despair, our goal should be to find our own footing in the truth, to seek our own balance.

Balance is a skill, not a fact. It is not something born into us or our circumstances, but something found and developed over time. Balance is something trained and developed so that we have it when we need it, which is not actually when or because things are even, fair, or easy, but when and because they are not.

Balance is discovered and refined within our struggles, within the turbulence and the turmoil, and when things are uneven, unbalanced, and even unfair. Balance is the choice to find and maintain our dynamic center, to be upright and strong, but also flexible and yielding, and to do this through life’s difficulties, through the ups and downs of our relationships, while being pushed and pulled in all directions. Throughout all of this, balance is also the decision to get up and try again when we fall, because we will fall.

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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April 25, 2020

balance, difficulty, dynamic center, even, evenness, fair, fairness, flexibility, integrity, life, nature, trouble, turbulence, turmoil, yielding

A Little Perspective Goes A Long Way

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Patience And Persistence (A Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Lesson)

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Return To Your Center (Be Kind)

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Expression Creates Reality

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Balance Is A Dynamic Skill

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