Give Yourself Time

In the June issue of VFJ, at the end of Justin’s article “Fundamentals,” he mentioned….”No one ever reaches perfection in TCC–as it is a living evolving practice–and the Joy lies in the journey itself.”

Bernice Playle, Minneapolis, MN also feels, “If we, as TCC teachers, encourage students that the “process” is more important than reaching an end “product”, I think they would be learning a valuable focus for their TCC practice.”

An excerpt follows from an article which Bernice shared which highlights this message. It was written by a student from traditional methods of tutelage in the Korean martial art, hapkido.

“A session with Master is not just a workout, it is also a lesson in life. I always feel enriched after leaving…From the beginning the learning process was slow and often difficult…many times I considered quitting, a fact Master recognized.

One afternoon Master invited me to have tea with him. After he served, he began, “You will never learn to do any endeavor properly unless you are willing to give yourself time. I think you are accustomed to having everything coming easily to you, but this is not the way of life or these arts.”

“I am patient,” I said.

“We are not talking about patience. To be patient is to have the capacity of calm endurance. To give yourself time is to actively work toward a goal without setting a limit on how long you will work.”

He had touched the core of my problem. I had given myself a set amount of time to become reasonably proficient in this style, and I was frustrating myself because I didn’t seem to be achieving the goal quickly enough. When I eliminated the deadline from my mind it was like removing a weight from my body. Equally important, I used Master’s advice to resolve another problem I was working on. By removing the (time) constraint from my mind and approaching the project without an arbitrary limit, I was able to dedicate myself and work without anxiety.”