"In these trying times... blah blah blah..."

[Shoshin]

"In these trying times..."
"In times like these..."
"In the challenging days ahead..."
Blah blah blah...

When I hear the pundit heads on TV start talking like this I change the channel. I am soooo sick of these phrases.
Motivation has to come first from within. Stop sitting on the couch. Find activities in which you can actively participate. This can be going to a free street festival, going to the public library, (instead of googling it,) Find a lecture or a book signing you can attend. Get out in your community and interact with people. Do something positive, something to get you out of your box. When you hear or see negativity, let it pass, like a kokyunage.

Lately I'm still job searching and this is frustrating. With this free time however, I've been able to reacquaint myself with the things I used to love. I'm enjoying a tennis game a couple of days a week. I'm back on the mat, albeit with BJJ. But my passion for Aikido still drives me forward and there will be great things to come in that arena.

It would be easy to just lay around and say, "well what do you expect of me in these trying times!"

I'm attending a seminar on Monday 3/15 called: Get Motivated
For more information, visit http://www.GetMotivated.com

Speakers will include:
Zig Ziglar
Gen. Colin Powell
Rudy Giuliani
John Walsh
Dan Marino
Tamara Love
Rick Belluzzo
Dwayne Wade

Gen. Powell is going to be speaking about leadership. I'm really excited to hear what he has to say!

So this post has been incredibly self indulgent perhaps. It kind of helps me to rant once a while and make myself accountable, at least to the great readership of this forum. I thank the Toyoda Center for this opportunity.

[hunglea]

I used to be a couch potato and if I had never gotten off my butt, I would not have found the Toyoda Center and Aikido.

[Shoshin]

O Sensei once said:

"Aiki cannot be expressed through words written or spoken.
Without dabbling in idle talk, understand through practice."

This is probably my favorite lesson!

I used to paraphrase this in class sometimes with: "HEY! Less talk, more DO!"

Sometimes we just have to kick our own butts.

[Shacho]

Oh my! I never thought I would ever hear the great Al Adams Sensei say he was going to a "rah rah" motivational event! I'm literally stunned! I dont know what to say, other than congrats, Ive been to several of those Peter Lowe events and always enjoy them. Be careful though, leave your credit card at home as they are designed as pitch fests for the speakers and their wares. They will be hawking their individual programs at the back of the room and you will see 1000's of people flock to the back to buy stuff because of how good they all are at "motivating":)

The speaker and Peter Lowe (the promoter) split profits 50/50 on the speaker's sales of that day...very profitable events, as well as motivating. Enjoy!

[Shoshin]

You were spot on, Feyen Sensei, about the sales pitches... But I was able to let that all pass and focus on the "Rah Rah Rah!"

OK, I know, it's a little corny, just listening to all that positive affirmation. It's a bit pie in the sky. It's a bit idealistic. But so what!

There's so much cynicism in the world out there, (I do my share of it,) but what's wrong with a little "yeah me!" "You can do it!" "Go GO GO!" A little call to action is good every once in a while. Our country needs this positive energy much more than the "in these hard times..." type of energy.

At my old job we had a manager, at one time, who used to e-mail out a short affirmation each week. He called it "The Monday Morning Mojo." It was just some tips on dealing with problems and some positive reinforcement about the company and a "good luck and have a great week!" I could not believe the resistance among my colleagues toward the "Mojo." Everyone HATED it. They thought it was a huge waste of time. Some even deleted it straight away without even reading it and giving it a chance. My Aiki instincts kicked in though, and I defended the Mojo and tried to convince some of these guys that, "if anyone needed just a few positive words each week it was YOU!" Well that manager is long gone, (asked to resign,) and the company is now hanging by a thread. I'm not saying that the "Mojo Manager" was the best leader ever and that he would have saved the company. Quite the contrary. I would say though, that the OWNER of the company is likely one of those who deleted the Mojo, if not literally than figuratively. One of my greatest criticisms of this person was his negative personality. I even had very delicate discussions with this person, hinting at his negativity. (As much as you can tell your boss that he's a negative SOB.) Until I can get him on the mat and roll him around a little bit, I don't think he'll ever change. But I digress...

Positive attitude is the key to survival right? Negative things happen. Jobs become scarce. The checking account empties out. All the bills come due at once. But the long term positive vision does not change. "S#!T happens. Glad I own a shovel..."

The seminar was good by the way. Too bad about Zig Zigler. He recently had an accident where he received a closed head injury. His memory was affected which hurts his speaking. But talk about retaining that positive vision...

Don't delete the Mojo, people!

[hunglea]

Positive attitude is the key to survival right? Negative things happen. Jobs become scarce. The checking account empties out. All the bills come due at once. But the long term positive vision does not change. "S#!T happens. Glad I own a shovel..."

It is easy to dwell on the negative aspects of life and all that seems to do is drag the person down. I have been trying to apply a positive attitude/outlook/mojo every time I start going to the dark side. When in doubt, I think "Well, there's no point in sulking and blaming yourself/people. Get over it and move on."

One of the most important lessons I have taken from Aikido - "Keep on moving"