 Greetings! How many times each day are we offered unsolicited advise? How Many of those people would be well served to follow the advise that they so freely shared with you? How many times a day do you offer advise? How often do you offer advise that you yourself are not adhering to? Don't feel too bad! We all do it. In fact it is not at all uncommon in todays society to hear,"Well I can't make myself do this, but you should really ....." Just fill in the blank. So we all get upset when we get advise from someone who is not strong willed enough to follow the advise themselves, but what about us? Let's take a a quick look in the mirror. Are you familiar with the effects : 1. Excessive alcohol consumption 2. Over Eating 3. Sedentary Life Style (not moving enough) 4. Smoking or Using Tobacco The list could go on forever. Are you currently struggling with any of these areas, or another one that was not listed. What can you do to get control of this situation? It is really quite simple. You are already aware of the problems associated with each of these areas, and probably a hundred more. We tell our students, " A Black Belt is a person who has the ability to make themselves do what is Necessary without consideration of what they Want." In almost every situation in life, we know what the right answer is, we just decide to ignore it if it stands in the way of what we want. " I deserve that piece of cake, because I had a really hard day" "He deserved to get yelled at, did you see the way that he looked at me?" " I think that I will skip exercising tonight, I went shopping today and we walked a lot!" Each of these are excuses for doing what is easy rather than what is right. No you don't deserve that cake, and you could have held your temper when you spoke to them. The martial arts teach us that focus is the center of everything that we do. If you have the proper focus, you can achieve just about anything. Those who have the knowledge necessary to make a decision, but still lack the will power to do the right thing, are weak in that area. Their focus is weak and therefore so is their will. Exercise: This week make a point to find at least five situations in which you can catch yourself doing what feels good instead of what is right. Change those five situations. It may only be a small step, but at least it is a step in the right direction. Respectfully,
Sa Bum Nym Jason Franklin
| 
