This week’s post is part 4 of 4 regarding my personal commitments to be a better human that are tattooed on my arm. (See previous posts at links below.)
Develop my mind and share my knowledge Face my fears and conquer them Extend my hand in friendship and fairness Master my body and control my actions In a job interview for a (restaurant) manager position, I was asked the best response by a manager to an unexpected rush. Without hesitation, I cited the importance of being the “calm one in the room.” I went on to explain that the worst thing to do in that scenario would be to, “lose my head and respond with visible anxiety.” “Be calm, be cool, and lead by example so that the staff doesn’t lose their cool and cause mistakes.”, I said.
When we encounter a situation in life, for which we’ve been prepared, it’s important to control our actions. Last week, I wrote about how frustrating it can be for me when people see my physical vessel and make a judgment before they take a moment to see who I am within. A few days ago, someone saw me and it was a refreshing rarity. Whilst training a client, at an outdoor park, a curious (although shy) dog approached me to sniff and check me out. I offered her a hand for petting but she didn’t feel that comfortable so I let her lead the exploration. Her owner made a comment that made it clear that he saw beyond my appearance. “It must be your calm demeanor. She’s usually very shy and doesn’t get that close to anyone!” Imagine that, a stranger described me as calm. He didn’t describe me as intense or menacing based on my appearance, he described me as calm. Thank you, sir. Thank you for seeing me. After years of controlling my actions through anger management and suppressing my ego (the root of most anger) that dude paid me a very high compliment. There are times when my anger will relapse in the form of a frustrated vent or road rage, but I view those incidents no different than a former smoker intentionally walking behind a present smoker for old memories of the olfactory. In the spirit of mastering my body, I’m certain to keep my temper in check before it affects my heart rate. In the spirit of controlling my actions, I’m certain to keep my temper in check before I lose control and have a physical outburst on some human source of agitation.
These four commitments came from the world of martial arts. The idea of mastering the body and subsequently controlling the actions of that body was put in place to prevent the irresponsible from using their new found self-defense skills to hurt others with an offensive attack. My perception of mastering my body is based on my daily practice. I believe in expressing gratitude for the gift of an able body. I express that gratitude in the form of training myself. We all have a daily practice, realized or not. Our present life situation is a result of that daily practice. Practice doesn’t make perfect (that’s a myth). Practice makes us consistent. My choice of deliberate physical practice is how I choose to master my body. With that being said, my daily practice must be about more than strength. My daily practice must be about more than achieving beast mode (whatever the fuck that means) or making sure that I’m sore the next day (that is not a measure of a good workout).
My daily practice must find balance in the many components of fitness.I must master my awareness of the present moment and understand that peace comes from within, not from my surroundings. I must breathe deeply when it’s not my place to intervene. I must control my actions when it’s not my fight. Despite the lessons of Batman, Spider-man, Wolverine, et al. it’s not my job to save the world. My commitment to myself is to master my body through my daily practice of treating my mind and body as one and training them both to be prepared for the unexpected. My commitment to myself is to control the actions of this bodymind in order to suppress my ego and prevent my anger from taking control. I’m aware that there are many things I can’t control, I find peace in knowing that. Billy Blanks was asked if he was able to stop a bullet. He said, “yes, in a way. I’m able to talk the situation down to resolution before the bullet is fired.” You have your own commitments on your own journey. But, trust the suggestion of a former mediator, recovering anger addict, and the calm one that has talked several irate people to resolution in lieu of fighting. Master your bodymind and be the calm one in the room.
Until next week… Find me on Spotify under “JetNoirMuse” to listen to some of my music Playlists.