Feb 9, 201207:26 AMPositive Vibes
A blog that explores authentic human connection
The crooked and the true
My handsome son Zach has a crooked nose. He got it learning Muay Thai kickboxing. It is a mark of someone who is engaged in the world.
He wouldn’t have a slightly askew nose from Wii boxing with a friend on the couch in his apartment. He won’t get a bent beak at his day job in the digital industry. The only way to get better at Muay Thai is to get in the ring and lose your self in a moment of contact. No amount of hitting a pad or kicking the air into submission does that. Woody Hayes said, “Practice doesn’t make perfect. Perfect practice makes perfect”. The reality of life is that perfection is almost always denied. The wisest can see that the most beautiful things in life are filled with imperfection.
It’s inspiring to witness someone who dives into a project to achieve at his or her personal best. Zach knows that how you begin has little to do with where you end up. He wasn’t a very good drummer when he started playing in High School, but through sheer determination and practice he became the center snare. (The best player in the drum line). I don’t think his goal is to become the best Muay Thai competitor in his weight class in California, but continuing to spar and learn after he broke his nose tells me he’s not done honing his craft to his satisfaction.
He’s a bit like his old man… The best way to inspire me is to suggest that maybe I can’t get the job done. Life is a contact sport, but it is not in the winning and losing. It is in giving it our best effort. Perhaps our greatest accomplishments happen when we face great challenge in the process.
Now, if somebody would just tell me I’m fat and I can’t lose weight… Wait a minute…I think I’m feeling skinnier already.
Email
Print
Feed
