The dreaded test
I do a martial art named Aikido translated as “the way of unifying life energy” or as “the way of harmonious spirit”. I love it, but this article is not about Aikido. It’s about life’s tests.
A recent Aikido grading sent me into a tailspin.
Now don’t get me wrong, grading is not some ancient fight to the death tournament.
Nope, it’s just a periodic test of skill, held to see if you’ve learnt anything since the last time you got tested.
I started dreading an upcoming grading, focussing on what I needed to do to impress the judging panel instead of working on my techniques and improving my craft as a natural progression of skill.
I turned the test into an insurmountable mountain… this totally killed my confidence… then I suddenly couldn’t remember the basics and trust me I know my basics.
I decided to speak to my seniors, to tell them I’m pulling out of the test for the reasons above. This was their advice… in a nutshell of course (don’t want to take too much of your time).
The trick with Aikido is not to live in the future outcome or a past move… what!
Let me rephrase… when you get onto the mat, do not consider what you’ve already done or what you’ll do well, rather be present in the moment, do the one thing you’re doing now and do it well.
This way every move (done well) culminates in well executed techniques. You cannot control the outcome, but you can do your best for a favourable one.
Isn’t this how we often approach life… overanalysing past mistakes or ruminating on the successes we had.
That’s if we’re not basking in the glow of future success or shuddering in the shadow of what could or will go wrong.
Instead we should be present and perfect only this moment, because this moment is really the only point in time during which we can act.
Live gigantically
Stanford Gibson
