Life is a Journey
I had an interesting conversation tonight with a student who is going through a particularly hard time in his life. In fact, it has been a week full of interesting conversations; each with people all going through different things and in parts of their journey.
In my years of practice, being a student and a partner, I have been through and witnessed just about everything life can throw at a person. We have had marriages, divorces, births, deaths, injuries, new jobs, lost jobs – you name it. We’ve seen just about any of the things life can throw at a person in order to test him or her.
Rooting Ourselves
Everything in our lives is in a constant state of flux, to some degree. This is a truth that can cause turbulence and tribulation in our lives. In times of trial, and in every day life, it is important that we root ourselves in what is changeless. We have to find that one thing that will root us, make us unwavering, and keep us upright when we feel as if we may fall.
For me, my practice is what acts as the roots of my tree. The dojo is one of the few places that has been there for me throughout every peak and valley in life. When I can’t physically be at the dojo, it’s my meditation that takes me wherever I need to go; to calm, to peace, to being the version of myself I’ve always wanted to be.
Still, I have to be careful. We cannot get to attached to a certain type of practice, whether it’s physical discipline or mental. Sometimes, life doesn’t allow us to practice five nights per week. Sometimes, injuries happen.
These too, are tests. When we are not able to practice the way we are “used” to practicing, it’s easy to think that we are missing or wasting time. Always remember, just because something isn’t exactly the way it “used” to be, does not mean that progress and forward movement has completely stalled. Any step forward, any true attempt at progress, is what helps to keep us rooted.
Taking Care of Ourselves
There is a reason that airlines advise us to place our own masks on before we try to assist others. If you aren’t in your best mental state (to the best of your ability) it is impossible for you to be as much help to the world around you as you potentially could be. It is through this “selfishness” that you can be the most giving and compassionate.
We all have things we are passionate about. My passion is martial arts.
Perhaps for you it is music, your job or the gym. That one thing isn’t more important than the others, but it is the thing that allows you to let go of the rest of the world and its problems, even if it’s just for an hour or two at a time, and reenergize yourself. After this is done, you are more prepared than ever to face what life throws at us.
Putting on your own mask first doesn’t make you selfish.
Putting on your own mask simply allows you to be fully present in the other moments of your life. Be sure to breathe as deeply as you possibly can. Focus on that breath and let it revitalize you.
Nothing can stop life from surprising us with new joys and pains, but we can do all we can to be prepared to face those things as our truest and strongest self.
-Rudy Makupson