Each of the Black Belt candidates wrote an essay about their journey. The winning Best Essay will be read at the closing ceremony on April 22, 2012 at Camp Letts. In the mean time I thought it would be nice for all to see some of the excerpts from all of them. We are looking forward to all come out for the testing and seeing both the physical and mental skills of these students. Here is the Essay compilation.
This week as we started to talk to our students about LEGACY, one of them had their grandparents with them. After the class the grandparents were sure that we had had that discussion because they had been in the audience. Unfortunately too many times we think of leaving a legacy about those who have already lived a full life or even more often of those who have passed away.
Our goal this month is to help our children to understand that every day of our life we are building and leaving a legacy. A legacy is simply how people remember us. Therefore our behavior in every moment leaves an impression on others. The choices that we make determine and leave an impression on how others remember us. It is our legacy.
In the book Fahrenheit 451 the author said, “Everyone must leave something behind when he dies…Something your hand touched some way so your soul has somewhere to go when you die, and when people look at that tree or that flower you planted, you’re there.” In so many philosophies and spiritual teachings we get the idea that the actions we take will have an effect on many generations to come, and that we were affected by many generations prior to ourselves.
Who are some people that you feel have left a powerful legacy? It may be for good or bad, but others are influenced by what they said or did. Just as important what is the legacy that you are creating for yourself? How can we help our children to understand that the choices we make determine the legacy we live?
Each month we define and discuss a word of character development and life skill with all of our students.
This month the word is Legacy and will be defined this way.
Young students: Legacy means, “This is what people remember about us.”
Older students: Legacy is a gift, lesson, or reputation handed down from one person or group to another.
Here are the worksheets for our students:
Legacy Worksheets for Tiger Tots
Legacy Worksheets for 5/6 Year Olds
Legacy Worksheets for 7-12 Year Olds
Legacy Worksheets for Teens & Adults
If you would like to see how we will talk about LEGACY with our students please follow our discussions here during the month of April or come in and TRY A CLASS.
Saturday night I had the privilege to attend the performance of Shen Yun. This performing art of traditional Chinese culture, filled with stories and virtues told with music, dance, acrobatics and beautiful costumes. I learned just enough about Chinese culture, met some fascinating individuals who all inspired me to put on my list of must do’s – learn more about the rich history and culture of the 5000 years of Chinese people. If you ever have the opportunity to see these dedicated performers – be sure to not miss it. Then go to their website and learn more. We had a great evening at the Kennedy Center and the show is there until April 2. There will be shows in NYC in April.
Shen Yun 2011 – Audience feedback from Shen Yun on Vimeo.
For more information and to hear others feedback about the showGo to Shen Yun.
Having the courage to stand up to others and especially our friends may be one of the hardest things we may ever feel the need to do. It can by scary to do what we believe and know to be right when our friends are disagreeing with us. We do not want to lose the friends – but we don’t want to have those bad feelings inside ourselves for doing something that is not in line with our own values. Let alone the idea that we may as a child get in trouble with our parents.
Sometimes a young person will do something that they know is not right, does not fit the values and morals of their family, because their friends are doing it and they want to be like their friends. When that happens they have succumb to peer pressure. As an adult we must also remember what it was like to be a young person, trying to find their way and we should remember times that we did the same – caved in to peer pressure. In fact, even as an adult we still have peer pressure to deal with and it can be difficult for us too.
Every child should be taught by their parents, what I call “THE SECRET” to showing courage. You must decide and practice ahead of time what you will say and do for all situations that may come up in the future, prior to the time that our fear and emotions set in. You can be assured that all of our children will be approached at a very young age and encouraged by someone to smoke, steal something, cheat on a test or take drugs.
Practicing with our child what they will say and do will be how they have the courage to stand up to those tests. Without the practice we are sending our children out to the world with no skills or tools and we are just hoping that those long lectures we gave them will come back to them and they will do the right thing. By role-playing and practice we help them to know that they can do and say the right thing, “because it is the right thing to do”.
Last year I wrote in this blog about internal self defense, what it means and its importance. I focused on the power of emotion and the need to learn to protect oneself from negative feelings. This is a major thrust of my training here in Wudang, and I thought a little more discussion was in order.
Remember that in Daoist theory, a person is like a bottle filled with water. We are a container of vital energy. When we are born, that container is full. We spend that energy in our everyday activities, sometimes intentionally and more often through habitual leaks. When the bottle is empty, we die.
To continue the water bottle metaphor, this is a bottle that takes a lifetime to empty, so from day to day the change is so minute we might overlook it. Indeed, a person can go for years thinking they are as vital as ever, only to wake up one day to notice that an important reference point has been passed. It’s a quarter empty! It’s HALF EMPTY! But the perception that the water suddenly vanished is wrong: every action of every day effects the level.
I am learning that a big part of my training is sensitizing myself to the effects my actions have on my vitality. The exertion of full-time training, plus my master’s insights about replenishing our energy, means that the level in my bottle drops and rises more noticeably, which with practice is helping me learn to monitor it and make good decisions that fill up the bottle.
I explained that so that I could explain this: I am starting to understand that the vital cost of my actions themselves is not as significant as the vital cost of the emotions engendered by those actions. A training day when I allow myself to be grouchy and negative is many times more draining than an identical day when I stay calm and positive.
This puts me in mind of some of the elderly individuals I have had the honor to know. Many of those who reach a great age and still seem vital and energetic are those whose characters are calm and optimistic. These individuals do not avoid effort in order to spare themselves the expenditure of vitality. But in their industry, they face each task quietly and purposefully. When the task is over, they do not bemoan the effort or overly celebrate it’s completion. They seem calm and gratified.
Other people I have known, of all different ages, seem prematurely dissipated. They seem to have a greater emotional reaction to every new task. If they are working already, they complain of the additional work. If they are resting, they resent the end to their rest. When a task is finished, a celebration is in order, and in this celebratory play they are as excessive as they are in their work. Each action carries an unnecessarily heavy toll on the water in the bottle.
The key here is that the vitality in the bottle is not just sand in an hourglass, measuring out a lifespan. It is the essence that determines the quality of a life as well. Without the toll of negative emotion, there is more energy to spare each day on the things we do and the things we love, without diminishing ourselves.
