Wednesday,
April 6,
2005
There
remains the classic story of a sensei (teacher, mentor) who instructed
one particular gifted student. Day after day and month after month, the
sensei instructed the student on the finer aspects of the martial arts;
sharing with him the secrets beyond the martial arts themselves. Until
one day, the student felt he was ready to challenge the sensei to a contest.
Reluctantly, the sensei agreed.
The
student was filled with confidence and respect as he addressed the sensei
and took his stance. The contest began and to the student's surprise,
every move and step he made was anticipated by the sensei. Before long,
he found himself on his back - again and again. Each time he got up, he
was more determined to conquer the sensei. After several times he found
himself again on his back and finally relinquished to his mentor.
As
the student stood and bowed, the sensei quietly said, "You have learned
your last lesson of the martial arts. And it is this: When you lose, do
not lose the lesson."
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Losing
is a difficult construct; a confusing concept. Not because we haven't
experience it first-hand (that's hardly the case in Life), but because
we often times either do not fully understand the basic premise or we
have not delved into its personal meaning for our life.
There
are hundreds of varying dictionary definitions for the concept of losing;
the overwhelming majority of these define the concept by using words such
as "fail" and "defeat." And for those two words alone,
there are several more ambiguous definitions. Now try and explain these
constructs - losing, failure, defeat - to your children or nieces and
nephews. For so many reasons, I often wonder if we would do much better
to omit these three words from all languages. But as it is, these three
concepts are alive and well and promoted heavily by our national sports,
our national media, our institutions of higher learning and our national
corporate world.
We
all must individually make choices on how to journey through and conduct
our own life; especially how we view ourself in light of our journeys.
We will lose loved ones through death, but does it constitute personal
failure? We will lose employment due to downsizing or circumstances beyond
our control, but does it constitute personal defeat? We will lose competitive
contests on any given day, but does any particular contest denote personal
failure or defeat? Perhaps it depends on where our eyes and minds are
focused...
During
my summer residence at a Crosier Monastery and throughout my college years,
there was very little that I took seriously. But through the befriending
of one particular elderly priest in that monastery, there was one lesson
with which I walked away. He would instruct me, time and time again, that
"Life's sole purpose was not where my eyes were presently directed
but could be found in a simple paragraph buried in Philippians 3:14 [I
will leave it to you to search out and read at your leisure].
He
would tell me, over and over again, that is where my eyes must be throughout
my relationships, my career, my spiritual journey, my hobbies, and my
thoughts. He would say, "Never let your eyes stray from this focus."
In light of this focus, perhaps personal loss, personal failure and personal
defeat in our everyday living holds no power.
You
and I will lose throughout Life... at least it will most definitely feel
like we've lost. And I guess that's okay. But as the sensei reminds his
student, it is important we " don't lose the lesson." Within
all of Life's journey, there are lessons to be learned and relearned and
learned again. And it remains only a simple and shallow loss when we don't
take the time to delve into the lesson.
When
was the last time you felt like you lost? What was it you were hoping
to accomplish? And on what were your eyes and mind focused? And what was
the lesson you gleaned from the experience? In these questions lies the
lesson...
In
less than a month, I am planning to compete in a city half-marathon (13.11
miles) - as preparation and training for a summit climb of Mount Rainier
(Washington) this summer. I am told and have read over and over again
that only half of all those attempting to summit Mount Rainier actually
succeed. My climbing team has been told to "enjoy the journey for
as long as it lasts - whether it's to the summit or not." And it's
because of accepting this reality, I've come to rethink my feelings about
this half-marathon. Will I fair well against over 1000 runners from different
age groups? I have no idea as this is my first race of this distance and
caliber in over twenty years. But I've come to realize that it's not the
others I'm racing against; it is a personal-best time that I am chasing
down and racing toward. The very fact that I have the ability to walk
and run deserves to be celebrated... and I will come across that finish
line, either running, walking or crawling.
In
your attempts at chasing down your personal finish lines, be sure to also
leave enough energy to chase down the lesson that comes with it. |