Wednesday, December 10, 2014

Not Even Me (Part II)

If you have a dream, a dream that won’t go away, listen to your heart. The path to your mountain top may not be easy or direct. Before Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay became the first men to reach the summit of Mount Everest on May 29, 1953, many others tried and failed. Some of those men paid with their lives. It was considered impossible. I have read, that after years of planning Hillary decided on a different path than followed by previous expeditions. Once the plan was in place; once all the equipment and supplies were in place; once the team was assembled; it took seven weeks of climbing to reach the top.

If you have one of those dreams, don’t listen to others who tell you what you can’t accomplish. Don’t listen to the doubts and fears of your own heart. Don’t compare yourself to others.

A respected White Crane Kung Fu master, Dr. Yang, Jwing-Ming tells this story.

“I felt so depressed after comparing myself with one of my most talented classmates. I always felt awkward compared to him. I told my master about this. He again looked at me and said, “Little Yang! The reason you want to train is because you want to train. It is the same as plowing a field. When you plow, you simply do it for your harvest. Why do you look around? If you are ahead of others, you will be proud of yourself, you will be satisfied, and you will become lazy. If you are behind, you will become depressed and despise yourself. Why don’t you just bow your head and keep plowing? Do not look around. Just keep plowing. Until one day…He pointed his finger towards my face…when you get tired and take a break, suddenly you realize that there is nobody around you. You have left all the others far far behind and you cannot even be seen.”

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