We Create Ourselves….Enter The Dragon

My Father is a decent bloke. Brought up on the tough side of town the youngest brother of a large family and became the black sheep of his family by escaping poverty and becoming a professional person. In many ways a successful man albeit in moderation.

But like many of his generation and sadly often my own he seems stuck in an unbreakable mindset that clings to beliefs tested by nothing other than simple dogma and almost a wish to remain ignorant of things even when the lightest of research would tell him otherwise. When I look at the younger generation too in their twenty somethings many of them now believe what they are told by TV, School, the Goverment and their parents even when their experience should tell them something else but its one particular belief that my Dad held and repeated many times during my youth that I wish to dissect and put forward an alternative viewpoint.

“People don’t ever really change” he will say and then go into his reasoning of how they may appear to but their instincts are always the same.

This may be true for many but actually Re invention is the mother of change. The very idea put forward here is completely false based on a very narrow view of life possibly down to experience mixed with some personal dissatifaction however what is closer to the truth would be a statement more like this:

People rarely change unless they are forced by terrible events, exceptional circumstance or if they are exceptional people with an iron will and true desire to mold themselves into the person they wish to be

Did you ever watch “Enter The Dragon”, Do you remember MR HAN?

We are unique, gentlemen, in that we create ourselves… through long years of rigorous training, sacrifice, denial, pain. We forge our bodies in the fire of our will.

This is something as Martial Artists especially we should understand but only if we manage to not only cross the gates of the temple but step back out on the other side.

To Re invent oneself is a long process and takes not only a wish but a will however the weak can become strong, the ignorant can become wise and the poor can become rich its all about mindset.

The older people get the more they naturally resist change, its just too difficult much of the time but certainly most children and young people at least for a time have an opportunity to mold into who they want to be looking to role models, influences and their environment for opportunities to find their path, nature & nuture right? Then at some point they stop that process get comfortable with who they are and it all ends there….Well thats basically what my old man was saying but for some of us we can remain connected to that belief we had as children that we can be whoever we want. We can learn new things and new ways of being and if we want it enough evolve into the person we had in mind.

Those people might well be the exceptions not the norm but if we are wishing to lead a more satisfying life then we often will require the ability to make big changes in order to grow and its this ability that can help us adapt to new environments, build our own realities and realize our dreams and ambitions so to end listen to MR HAN not my old man.

Originally published on Medium.com Follow Alex on Twitter