At the heart of every great idea is a spirit of generosity.
If we are honest with ourselves, our best ideas have not originated from our intellect. Instead, they formed and grew from some feeling or need deep inside of us, perhaps even simply a hunch. Our best ideas, therefore, having not come from our selves, are not selfish. They are a calling, a purpose, and a way for us to serve a greater need.
While great ideas may begin with the hope of solving some problem that we recognize in our lives, this is not how such ideas thrive. They cannot thrive in a vacuum, kept to ourselves. They live and grow to their fullest potential when they are shared.
What may have started as a nagging thought or urge to try something different has the potential to become something much more when shared with the world. When we share a solution to a problem we are having, for which there may have been no previous known solution, we make a new connection with the world. This connection, rooted in a common problem with an uncommon solution, is the foundation of a community.
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
Artwork by Ana, except where otherwise noted
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When faced with a goal or a task that seems impossible, it is a leader’s job to see past all of the obstacles, all of the reasons it cannot be done, and to provide the vision necessary for others to see optimistically into the future.
A leader shares his or her vision of success with others so that they, too, believe that success is possible.
A leader gives hope where there was none before.
A leader does not use a lack of time, resources, or preparation as an excuse to fail because a leader sets his or her team up for success in spite of limitations, restrictions, or setbacks.
A leader does not say that his or her team is not ready for a mission. A leader ensures that they are.
It is exactly the moments of impossibility, of hopelessness, and of inevitable defeat that define a leader, for it it is in these moments that leadership manifests.
Within us, we each have a different capacity for kindness. There is a maximum degree to which we can focus our mental-emotional energy on the well-being of others before we overextend ourselves and burn out. Being aware of this capacity, and its edges, is an essential aspect of self-awareness.
We owe it to ourselves, and those we are meant to serve, to discover the full depth of this capacity. To live beneath this capacity is to do the world and ourselves a grave injustice. It means not living up to our potential to be loving, helpful, and useful.
Living beyond this capacity, however, is just as tragic as living beneath it. Living beyond our capacity for kindness means that we give so much of ourselves to others that we have nothing left, nothing left for ourselves or for those who may matter most. When we cross our own boundaries, extending ourselves beyond the limits of what is healthy, we are no longer able to be kind anyway, and it is all for naught.
Meditations on God 