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October
2004 Newsletter
There is a benefit karate tournament for the Mt. Arlington
F.O.P. - - Sunday, October 24, 2004. Edith Decker School, 446 Howard Blvd.
Mt. Arlington, NJ
Congratulations to the people who attended the AOKA
Tournament September 19th.
I am riding in the MS TOUR, which is a 100 mile bike ride
through and around New York City, Oct. 17th . I would appreciate donations
for the Multiple Sclerosis Society’s Cause. Please make checks payable to
“MS Society.” THANKS - Sensei
"Decisions are easy when values are clear." Unknown
Our choices and decisions are not always easy or clearly
defined. Each day at work, school or play, we must decide what kind of day
it is going to be and what kind of person we choose to be. You are here and
now reading this so you have made more than one decision today.
CONGRATULATIONS . . . IT WAS A GOOD ONE OR WAS IT?
The Choice . . . You awaken and immediately decide,
it's going to be a great day or you decide that it's not. You drive to work
and the car next to you suddenly cuts you off, you can choose to immediately
respond with understanding or with anger. You get to work and your boss
tells you about a change in operations that will happen next week. You can
choose to be excited about the opportunity or fearful of the change. Later
in the day, you are asked to lunch by a couple of new guys from another
department. You can decide to make new friends and go or be small and kindly
decline. Before you leave for the day, you receive an email about giving to
an annual charity campaign. You can choose to give freely or hold on
tightly. When you get home, your toddler asks you to play 'batman and
monsters.' You can make the choice to join in the fun or refuse. At dinner,
the dog jumps on your lap again, who let the dog in anyway? You can choose
to be patient and calmly let the dog outside or you can show your
frustration and fatigue. After dinner, your oldest child brings in his math
test, he earned a 'B.' You can choose to encourage and recognize the effort
or tear him down by asking why it wasn't an 'A.' When you go to work in your
shop later in the evening, you can choose to wear PPE and work safely or you
can make the choice not to wear it. At bedtime, as you turn off the light,
you can choose to tell your spouse what he or she means to you or you can
keep quiet.
What kind of day would it have been if you chose the former
in all cases? What type of day would it have been if you had decided on the
latter in all situations? In these cases there are not any 'rights' or
'wrongs' just simple choices. The hidden secret of life however is that we
are a product of the simple decisions we make each moment. Each day we make
hundreds if not thousands of choices. We make a conscious choice for
happiness, leadership, a smile, love, kindness or generosity, or we just as
easily opt for smallness, fear, anger, resentment, bitterness or hatred.
So, what type of day is it? The choice is up to you . . .
Matt Forck - www.thecallproject.org
In The First Circle, Alexsandr Solzhenitsyn tells
about the realm of the final inch.
How to face difficulties?" he declared again. "In the realm
of the unknown difficulties must be viewed as a hidden treasure! Usually,
the most difficult, the better. It's not as valuable if your difficulties
stem from your own inner struggle. But when difficulties arise out of
increasing objective resistance, that's marvelous!". "The most rewarding
path of investigation is: 'the greatest external resistance in the presence
of the least internal resistance.' Failures must be considered the cue for
further application of effort and concentration of will power. And if
substantial efforts have already been made, the failures are all the more
joyous. It means that our crowbar has struck the iron box containing the
treasure. Overcoming the increased difficulties is all the more valuable
because in failure the growth of the person performing the task takes place
in proportion to the difficulty encountered! ...
"And now listen: The rule of the Final Inch! The realm of
the Final Inch! In the Language of Maximum Clarity it is immediately clear
what that is. The work has been almost completed, the goal almost attained,
everything seems completely right and difficulties overcome. But the quality
of the thing is not quite right. Finishing touches are needed, maybe still
more research. In that moment of fatigue and self-satisfaction it is
especially tempting to leave the work without having attained the apex of
quality. Work in the area of the Final Inch is very complex and also
especially valuable, because it is executed by the most perfected means. In
fact, the rule of the Final Inch consists in this: not to shrink this
crucial work. Not to postpone it, for the thoughts of the person performing
the task will then stray from the realm of the Final Inch. And not to mind
the time spent on it, knowing that one's purpose lies not in completing
things faster but in the attainment of perfection."
"It is not the straining for great things that is most
effective; it is the doing of the little things, the common duties, a little
better and better." Elizabeth Stuart Phelps - 1844-1911, Writer
From the chapter “Decision” - THINK AND GROW RICH
Thinking is very important. Decision makers are great
thinkers. Do you ever give much consideration to your thoughts? ... how they
affect the various aspects of your life? Although this should be one of our
most serious considerations, for many people it is not. There is a very
small select few who make any attempt to control or govern their thoughts.
Anyone who has made a study of the great thinkers, the great decision
makers, the achievers of history, will know they very rarely agreed on
anything when it came to the study of human life. “We become what we think
about.”
What do you think about? You and I must realize that our
thoughts ultimately control every decision we make. You are the sum total of
your thoughts. By taking charge this very minute, you can guarantee yourself
a good day. Refuse to let unhappy, negative people or circumstances affect
you.
The greatest stumbling block you will encounter when making
important decisions in your life is circumstance. We let circumstance get us
off the hook when we should be giving it everything we’ve got. More dreams
are shattered and goals lost because of circumstance than any other single
factor. How often have you caught yourself saying, “I would like to do or
have this but I can’t because . . . ” Whatever follows “because” is the
circumstance. Circumstances may cause a detour in your life but you should
never permit them to stop you from making important decisions.
Napoleon said, “Circumstances, I make them.”
The next time you hear someone say they would like to go on
a vacation, or purchase a particular automobile but they can’t because they
have no money, explain they don’t need the money until they make a decision
to go to Paris or purchase the car. When the decision is made, they will
figure out a way to get the amount needed. They always do. Many misguided
individuals try something once or twice and if they do not hit the bullseye,
they feel they are a failure. Failing does not make anyone a failure, but
quitting most certainly does and quitting is a decision. By following that
form of reasoning, you would have to say when you make a decision to quit,
you make a decision to fail.
Every day in America, you hear about a baseball player
signing a contract which will pay him a few million dollars a year. You
should try to keep in mind . . . that same player misses the ball more often
than he hits it when he steps up to the plate. Everyone remembers Babe Ruth
for the 714 home runs he hit and they rarely mentioned that he struck out
1,330 times. Charles F. Kettering said, and I quote, “When you’re inventing,
if you flunk 999 times and succeed once, you’re in.”
That is true of just about any activity you can name, but
the world will soon forget your failures in light of your achievements.
Don’t worry about failing, it will toughen you up and get you ready for your
big win. Winning is a decision. Many years ago Helen Keller was asked if she
thought there was anything worse than being blind. She quickly replied that
there was something much worse. She said, “The most pathetic person in the
world is a person who has their sight but no vision.” I agree with Helen
Keller.
At 91, J.C. Penny was asked how his eyesight was. He replied
that his sight was failing but his vision had never been better. That is
really great, isn’t it? When a person has no vision of a better way of life,
they automatically shut themselves in a prison; they limit themselves to a
life without hope. This frequently happens when a person has seriously
tried, on a number of occasions, to win, only to meet with failure time
after time. Repeated failures can damage a person’s self-image and cause
them to lose sight of their potential. They, therefore make a decision to
give up and resign themselves to their fate.
Take the first step in predicting your own prosperous
future. Build a mental picture of exactly how you would like to live. Make a
firm decision to hold on to that vision and positive ways to improve
everything will begin to flow into your mind. Many people get a beautiful
vision of how they would like to live but because they cannot see how they
are going to make it all happen, they let the vision go. If they knew how
they were going to get it or do it, they would have a plan, not a vision.
There is no inspiration in a plan but there sure is in a vision. When you
get the vision, freeze frame it with a decision and don’t worry about how
you will do it or where the resources will come from. Charge your decision
with enthusiasm . . . that is important. Refuse to worry about how it will
happen
Congratulations to:
- Junior Yellow Belt - Tiffany Dill, Trevor Silva, Edward Ascolese
- Junior Green Belt #1- Chris Barry, Kevin Fontana, Dan Skuropacki
- Second Degree Black Belt - Frank Wolf, Matt Hirsch, Ray Hirsch
- Fifth Degree Black Belt - Jeff Matusewicz, Scott Miller, Suzanne Wyss
Promotions are granted when the student demonstrates the
proper techniques and a continued advancement of practice and training,
inside and outside of the dojo |
