The blessing of changes

Most of my life I had great resistance to changes. So when we found out that the Los Angeles School District is planning to build an elementary school at the current Dojo location, I felt uneasy. Although we were getting information in the mail about the process, and meeting with our relocation officer, I still preferred not to think much about it.

Now, we are at one of the ending stages of the relocation process; we found a new space, we are preparing to sign a lease, and are brainstorming about the design and construction of the new Dojo. Now, we put our resistance aside, as well as the inconvenience, the fears and concerns. We ignite our creativity and sharpen our pencils, we bring about our vision and heart.

I envision a community of people of all ages; who are taking on a practice that is a source of empowerment in their lives. People who enjoy the process of learning, and willingly exchange their energy and gifts with others. I see a wider outreach within the community; a teen-power group, that besides working hard at their practice is active in volunteering, and kids who understand that "we are all in it together". Young adults and seniors who train for their well being as well as the well being of their surroundings. A community that is caring and sharing, that is aware and evolving.

This is an opportunity that was born from an unexpected change. Like in any birth there will be pains, like at any birth the change is encompassing a promise, a blessing. One that we are awaiting to embrace.

The weakness within the strength

A few days ago, at our Aikido adults class, something caught my eye. At one point, it was very clear that almost every one of the students were using their main strength; the physically strong were very forceful, the strong-willed were stubborn, the agile were moving way too fast, and the heady were thinking a lot. I thought it was interesting to see how we choose to use what we feel we are good at, as much and frequent as possible.

I noticed that none of this was working very well. Almost all the students were overdoing it and faced difficulty in their practice; there was a lack of connection, sloppiness, or just a poor application of techniques.

What we consider ourselves to be good at may be misleading. Is our strength really a strength, or is it also a weakness? Obviously, we need to use some judgment about when, with whom, and to what extent we utilize our natural tendencies. Let's take the agile person, for example: if he is going too fast, working with a slower partner, there will be lack of connection. An agile person, who is slowing down and working on controlling his speed, is actually practicing "out of the box". Working only within the talent's limits keeps us in our comfort zone. Trusting our strengths alone may be a curse. Navigating into what we consider to be "a weakness" may unravel some great discoveries about who we really are.

We should acknowledge the strengths we were blessed with, yet remember that other blessings may be found on the other side as well.