relaxing
It seems yesterday I was a bit hasty in my decision to quit blogging anywhere but my main blogging site. The nature of my blogs are still going back to what they were - records of my thoughts, rather than events. With that in mind, I do want to explain a bit about what prompted the reversal of my decision.
At the dojo, we’re always talking about relaxing while taking a fall. It seems counter-intuitive, but by relaxing during the fall, it’s easier to disperse the energy and not get hurt. It’s the same reason a drunk driver is thrown from the car and walks away while his victims are killed on impact - the alcohol makes it practically impossible to tighten muscles, and so the impact is diluted and distributed.
This is one of the principles behind jujitsu - joint locks are caused by moving the body structure to remove all the slack from the supporting muscles, tendons, and ligaments. Then applying just a little more force causes the joint to come apart, what people think of as a break.
Life is no different than this. When an area in life comes under pressure, it stretches until there is no more slack. Then the next little shock to come along causes that area to break and come apart, causing immense damage and pain in the process. The most readily available example of this is the current stock market situation. Circumstances built up over the last few years that stretched the market tight, making it highly reactive to certain conditions. When it couldn’t stretch any further, the next shock caused a sudden and violent reaction, and we find ourselves in the position we’re now in.
Having said all that, I see where I’m becoming too rigid in a number of areas. It’s time to step back, take a break, and see where I need to relax. It’s the first step towards something bigger and better that’s on its way. I may not know what it is now, but I’ll know it when it happens.