A mediocre practice that we maintain is better than an exceptional practice that we quit.
It is good to push ourselves, to try to reach beyond our capabilities, and to expand our limitations, but not if it continually burns us out. Burn out is not sustainable and a practice, by definition, must be sustainable. It is better to settle for slow, steady progress than to aim too high and continually fail.
Of course, we should set our goals and our expectations high, but it is unreasonable to believe that we will reach these goals and meet theses expectations quickly or that it will be easy. Going too fast, pushing ourselves too the edge of our capabilities too often or for too long a time, will, sooner or later, cause us to fail. When this happens, it is not because of inherent weakness on our part, but because nature demands balance.
For all of the strength and will required to push us forward, to drive us to improve, to create, to growth, and to change, is an underlying fragility. It is this actually this fragility that propels us, but it is also this fragility that is exposed when we go too far, too quickly. In order to remain consistent in our progress, we must find a sustainable pace, frequency, and rate of expansion where our strength and fragility are in balance.
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, as well as a founding member of the Severna Park and Baltimore Holistic Chamber of Commerce.
Street art photo taken by Robert Van Valkenburgh, artist unknown unless otherwise noted.
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Positive change begins by asking newer, better questions. Inquisitiveness, then, can be seen as a positive trait. This is generally true, but there are times when asking questions hinders progress, rather than aiding it.
Sometimes we do not need to know everything in order to accomplish the mission, task, or goal at hand. In some cases, the need to know more is actually just a means of procrastination or resistance to the process, a way of injecting our ego, opinions, or prejudices where they are not needed or wanted.
Other times, having too much information too soon will actually slow us down, either when time is of the essence or when the ‘why’ will become evident as the result of the action, not before it. Knowledge without understanding can cause unnecessary friction, especially when we face something new or frightening wherein understanding is the result of hindsight not forethought.
Action has a greater potential to change our thinking than our thinking does to change our action. Too many questions prior to action can lead to conflict, both internal and external, inaction, or both. Our instincts are more reliable and powerful than our intellects anyway, so we are better served by quieting the latter to listen to the former if we truly value growth and progress.
Meditations on God 