My full-time job requires interacting with\u00a0Northern New England and Eastern Canada’s elderly and disabled populations. \u00a0Budget cuts, hiring freezes, staff retirements, and increasing workloads have made the work environment very challenging lately.\u00a0\u00a0 Both staff and management officials are struggling with stress levels. \u00a0 A staff meeting a few months back became especially\u00a0confrontational and heated.<\/p>\n
After the meeting, an office\u00a0management official seemed to believe that closing me into a private office and subjecting me to an expletive-laden verbal assault constituted acceptable behavior. (The official felt chewing me out and swearing at me would make the official feel better.)\u00a0 Interestingly, I experienced frustration, but no desire to respond in kind.\u00a0 The official’s face literally turned red with anger as I steadfastly refused to return fire. \u00a0Had the official’s behavior escalated into physical aggression, no doubt existed in my mind that I possessed the skill and\u00a0ability to address any contingency. \u00a0As I turned to leave the office, the official demanded to know “where the $^%@” did I think I was going. \u00a0An almost unnerving calm washed over me. \u00a0 I simply expressed to the management official that the behavior and language being exhibited was unprofessional, unacceptable, and would not be tolerated.\u00a0 I then left the situation in order to return with an employee advocate.<\/p>\n
To our younger readers, think of it like if the school lunch lady lost her temper with you because you simply did not like the broccoli she was shoveling … er, serving. \u00a0Granted, eating your vegetables is expected. \u00a0 Even the most compliant student, however, would be on solid ground to question being asked to swallow it stuffed in cabbage and wrapped in spinach. \u00a0BUT, instead of turning up the heat when the lunch lady boils over at your suggestion for some unhealthy melted cheese to be poured on the broccoli instead,\u00a0 you choose to leave the situation and get the Principal for help with finding a peaceful resolution.<\/p>\n
Now, this blog post could go on as a discussion of self-control, self-confidence, and avoiding a violent encounter, but that would be ridiculous.\u00a0 I mean, seriously?\u00a0 Do you really want a post about how it\u00a0is through karate-do that one can best handle\u00a0the lunch lady’s\u00a0temper tantrum\u00a0over one’s dislike of her\u00a0veggies?\u00a0 It would be a disaster.\u00a0\u00a0You would get pummeled.\u00a0\u00a0You would be laughing too hard to defend yourself against the lunch lady’s need to start a fight about your preference for\u00a0Whoopie Pies over greens in general. (To our southern US readers and those abroad, a Whoopie Pie is\u00a0a uniquely New England,\u00a0yummy, sandwich-like desert where cream\u00a0is spread between two chocolate cake-like ends).<\/p>\n
Today’s\u00a0blog actually focuses on the events of the following day.\u00a0 I arrived at work to find that about half our staff were out for various reasons.\u00a0 Their absences left us extremely short-handed.\u00a0 Answering the phone and trying to handle walk-in customers would be the only workloads accomplished.\u00a0 It was probably the best day I have had at work in the last 5\u00a0years.<\/p>\n
You see, the reality of the situation forced us to completely abandon any hope\u00a0of getting to\u00a0any backlogged workloads.\u00a0\u00a0 Our sole\u00a0focus that day involved meeting the needs of the moment and not worrying about anything else.\u00a0\u00a0 “Liberating” best describes the feeling that resulted from the\u00a0unwavering concentration on the present moment.\u00a0 Free from (a) having time to think about\u00a0piles of unfinished work and\/or (b) the chance to ponder frustration about what had transpired the day before, I was left with only the here and now.\u00a0 I provided some of the best customer service I ever have.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Complete immersion in the\u00a0present moment proved to be the key.\u00a0 Buddhists call this concept mindfulness.<\/p>\n
(Okay here comes the karate part.)\u00a0 Being mindful in the dojo produces the best training experiences.\u00a0 For me, the\u00a0possibility to turn a regular class into an opportunity for enlightenment exists in that brief moment right before we pay our respects to our lineage by bowing to the Shomen wall.<\/p>\n
Every Maine Traditional Karate class led by our Sensei begins with the same ceremony or ritual.\u00a0 Students may socialize and stretch before class starts.\u00a0\u00a0When our our Sensei issues the command Seiretsu (say-de-tsu), however, karateka (students) line up according to rank and stand at attention. \u00a0At the time, I ranked\u00a0as the second highest adult kyu student (non black belt)\u00a0in our dojo.\u00a0 As such, I usually stood in the front row, second from the right.\u00a0 In a nutshell, \u00a0smack dab in front of the Sensei.\u00a0 Believe me, there is no hiding if your are having an off night.\u00a0 The senior student in the dojo will then issue the command\u00a0Ushiro O Muite Gi Toh Obi O Naosu (u-she-doe-O moo-ee-tay gee to obi o nay-o-sue) which means to turn around and straighten your gi and make yourself presentable for the Sensei.\u00a0 The commands Shomen (show-men — turn to face the Shomen wall\/front of the dojo) followed by Seiza (say-za — kneel) leave all students kneeling, clenched fists on thighs, elbows in, back straight, heads up and facing the front wall of the dojo.<\/p>\n
Sensei commands Shomen Ni Rei (showmen nee ray — bow to the showmen wall\/pay your respects to the centuries of knowledge represented by pictures of the masters in our lineage).\u00a0 Students bend forward at the waist, stretch their arms and hands forward, place the left hand then the right on the floor, and finally place the forehead in between.<\/p>\n
What few students may know is that it is at this point that Sensei very quietly whispers Onegai Shimasu (Oh-nee-gash-I-mus) which means please teach me.\u00a0 This is extraordinarily serious and not hokey.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0It is a request to our karate ancestors for knowledge, strength, and guidance in the training about to be undertaken.\u00a0 The students later make the same request of the Sensei.\u00a0 The bowing in ceremony then continues with a few more steps.<\/p>\n
That brief\u00a0instant between Sensei commanding “Shomen Ni Rei” and my beginning to bend forward is the\u00a0moment of truth for me.\u00a0 I take a deep breath in through my nose.\u00a0 As I exhale through my mouth, I do my best to expel any frustrations, anger, anxiety, depression, joy, or sorrows that I have\u00a0carried with me to the dojo.\u00a0 My ability to let go of my attachment to the day’s baggage is directly related to what my\u00a0training experience\u00a0is like on any given evening.<\/p>\n
On nights when I cannot let go of the day’s events, my balance is off, my technique sloppy, and my ability to be articulate suffers.\u00a0 I still enjoy my time. \u00a0I still benefit from my experience, but not to the same degree as when I can clear my mind and\u00a0focus on the here and now.<\/p>\n
Shoshin Nagamine once said “the dojo is a sacred place where the human spirit is polished.” \u00a0It undoubtedly is … in many ways. \u00a0You have to work for it though. \u00a0No one gives it to you. \u00a0You can’t simply bury frustrations and anger. \u00a0They will destroy your soul if left to fester.<\/p>\n
Karate-do is helping me learn how to\u00a0expel anxiety and anger that serves no purpose. Personally, I try to actually visualize negative energy leaving my body as I breathe out and bend forward. \u00a0In my mind’s eye, I see red, sewer green, yellow, and brown fumes projectile vomited from my body. \u00a0(Well, almost. \u00a0I mean, it’s not like I had eaten too many hot dogs before class or anything.) \u00a0At any rate, some days I am far more successful then others. \u00a0But, just like with my punches, blocks, and kicks, proper practice makes perfect.<\/p>\n
Sometimes we have to eat our broccoli. \u00a0It doesn’t mean we have to like it. \u00a0Sometimes we get to eat a Whoopie Pie. \u00a0Yummmmmmmy. \u00a0Good AND bad come and go – many times beyond our control. \u00a0One can and must learn to expel the aftertaste of the bad however to make room for complete immersion in the good when it happens. \u00a0It is not easy. \u00a0I have a long way to go. \u00a0How successful I am tomorrow is beyond my control right now.<\/p>\n
Right now, listening to my son laugh at the iFunny video he is watching, knowing my wife is enjoying her book on the couch behind me, listening to my kitty purr behind the monitor while I type\u00a0the final words of this blog post, \u00a0This exact moment is AWESOME but will never be here in exactly the same way again. … See, it’s already gone. \u00a0I guess I am glad I was here to\u00a0experience it.<\/p>\n
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My full-time job requires interacting with\u00a0Northern New England and Eastern Canada’s elderly and disabled populations. \u00a0Budget cuts, hiring freezes, staff retirements, and increasing workloads have made the work environment very challenging lately.\u00a0\u00a0 Both staff and management officials are struggling with stress levels. \u00a0 A staff meeting a few months back became especially\u00a0confrontational and heated. After … <\/p>\n