If someone tells us they do not value us, we should believe them.
But we should not believe for a moment that this is a reflection of our actual value.
The feelings and opinions of others do not determine our value.
Our value is intrinsic to our humanity and we owe it to ourselves to associate with people who recognize and appreciate us for who we are.
Deep down, each of us wants to feel respected and appreciated.
We want to be seen and heard, and we want to feel as if the people around us at least try to understand us.
We want our presence to matter and for our input and output to be of value to the community we are a part of.
Without this, we will never feel fulfilled in our work.
With this, however, our work will not feel like work at all.
By Robert Van Valkenburgh
We can tell what a person values by what they reward.
People can claim to value one thing or another, but as we all know, talk is cheap.
Action, as the saying goes, speaks louder than words.
So when a person says that they value honesty, integrity, kindness, or some other attribute in the people around them, but they actively reward the opposite attitudes and behaviors with their time or attention, we should pay attention.
Life is too short to give the better parts of ourselves to those who do not want or appreciate it.
After all, we should not reward that which we, ourselves, do not value.
We should, instead, seek out those with whom our value is and values are shared.
‘Seeking Shared Value’ by Robert Van Valkenburgh
HOLISTIC BUDO: As in Life, so too in Budo. As in Budo, so too in Life.
There is only so much we can accomplish in a day.
As long as we have used our time wisely and have not squandered it, we should not be hard on ourselves for tasks left undone.
If we have prioritized well, the things we were unable to get to were the least important anyway.
We should not fret about that which is unimportant.
There is not enough time in the day to give our energy to that which does not matter.
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.*
*Robert Van Valkenburgh’s black and white photography can be seen at My Darkness To Light
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Innovation is measured in the positive impact it has on our lives, on the lives of those around us, and on the world at large.
If it is to be of value, it needs to positively affect people’s lives in some way, shape, or form.
Innovation purely for innovation’s sake is not really all that useful.
Innovation without a purposeful function, without some kind of positive and meaningful change, is more novel than it is necessary.
If we are driven to innovate, we must do our best to avoid novelty.
An audience attracted to novelty will soon move on when something new and more novel arises.
They will have no loyalty to us or our ideas because what we have to offer is not what they are looking for.
They want something new, but we want to make a difference.
Our audience, the people we should be seeking out and who we hope will seek us out as well, are the people who are looking for the change that we are trying to make, whether they know it now or not.
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.
If you found this post helpful or meaningful in some way, please feel free to Share, Comment, and Subscribe below.
Meditations on God 