Diddly Squat

I've been working with a lot of male...egos as of late.  I really wanted to swear right there.  Could you tell?  I figured I'd save it for later.  I have a lot of young men I teach.  Part of being in martial arts is everyone sounding of with "yes ma'am" and by the end of the night I feel like I've heard that phrase a good fifty million times.  Just...not as much lately.  Lately, I hear a lot of "I don't need your help", "I know what I'm doing", "Duh", and a butt load of eye rolling (yes, eye roll has it's own noise. It's sounds like "you idiot, I could make white paint be more exciting than you").  Now, while I am SURE they do know, at some level, exactly what they are doing, there is a thing called common decency and respect.  I won't go into that one, but the one I'd like to address is the kid who comes to class once or twice a month and think they are God's gift to martial arts and I should just shut the hell up.  These are the ones that make me want to see if Rocky had the right idea pummeling frozen animal carcasses.

Picture this:  I am five foot zilch and weigh the equivalent of a wet block of cheese.  I do martial arts so that the local idiot doesn't mistake me for a free sample at the deli.  I listen—carefully—when my instructor tells the class that some techniques can get a wee lass like me out of a sticky situation with a diesel truck sized kind of fella barreling down on my knees to bear me to the ground.  To the left, there was a young man (color belt) spouting off that he knew the correct technique and he should probably show the sixth degree frigging black belt how to do it.

The beauty of this all is that I got paired up with a fellow from Africa (roughly the size and muscle mass of a rhino) who tried to get my knees, and could not.  The further frosting on the cake is that said beautiful rhino-sized man bore the young know-it-all buck to the floor.  It was glorious.

But this isn't about my amazing prowess (hehehe that's funny and super sarcastic FYI).  Not at all.  This is about knowing everything... because we don't.  None of us do.  Many of us search and learn every day of our lives to become the expert and when we turn around, we find that there is a new technique thrown at us.  All of us have had the proverbial rug yanked from underfoot.  It's humbling.  It happens to me ALL THE TIME.  I learn new martial arts techniques every week, painting techniques, and parenting ideas.  We are constantly learning and there is no end to it.  However, if you stop learning and think you're the expert, you're in for a world of embarrassment.  Why?  Well...

This life we live gives ample opportunity for humans to make absolute CHUMPS of ourselves.

Every.  Damn.  Day.

So, let's all take a deep breath and realize that it's OKAY to screw up a bit.  It is OKAY to learn and listen and accept new ideas.  IT IS OKAY TO BE HUMBLE.  Humility is not a weakness.  It means you have the fortitude and wisdom to see that someone other than you might be right, have a better idea or a novel thought process.  How on God's green and beautiful Earth could this be a bad thing???  Being humble means you have the right and opportunity to learn something new.

In fact, I just learned that you really should push the soap drawer close on the washing machine.  I now know that soapy water gets flung EVERYWHERE.  It's also super slick on tile.  My butt just worked that one out all on its own.

Be the good, folks.  ACT!