“Whether you think you can, or you think you can't - you're right.” - Henry Ford

A good warrior never succumbs to the story. At every moment throughout our day we are telling ourselves a “story.” Most of the time the story is only based in reality but is disproportionally fictional. The story can be so powerful that we believe it’s real. Every story begins with “I am…”and so the story is who we tell ourselves who we are. The story can change or be situationally specific. Most of the time, the story is the first thing that comes to mind when something happens and it is not a thought, but rather a feeling that is usually based upon a prior experience. Generally, the story makes us feel bad about ourselves. For instance, if we order dessert and someone casually comments, it takes us back to some unpleasant situation and then we feel guilty and don’t enjoy the dessert. The same thing happens in training. Nobody likes being confronted physically. So, when our opponent strikes at us, in seemingly a flash, we feel the story and react in kind. One great thing about budo training is that we get to confront some of these stories and then we get a blueprint as to how to manage our stories. The first thing to do is realize that it is just a story and that stories are largely embellished. Next ask, “Is this completely true?” and if it’s not completely true it enables us to begin to free ourselves from what is holding us down. Another thing we can do is add a conjunction to the story. If we say, “I am not good enough” and then add “but today I will be better.” Doing this enables us to change the story, change the feeling and take control of our paradigm. A warrior understands that our inner demons and/or our egos whisper stories to us but that stories aren’t necessarily all truth. Shakespeare wrote, “nothing is right or wrong but thinking makes it so.” Thus, by examining the stories and challenging the stories, we get to re-write them and defeat them and that’s why good warriors never succumb to them.  

Today’s goal: Pause and feel what’s going on. Ask yourself, “Am I succumbing to the story?” Then re-write the story.