Jizaikan

Life is a battle

We left early that Friday morning from Kansas City, driving eight hours to the annual shugyo being held this year in Naperville. Kalon and CJ were in the front seat, and I was thankfully stretched out in the back.

It was somewhere around the biggest cornfield in Iowa, on Highway 80, that a very official looking “Department of Transportation” truck blocking the Interstate, diverted us onto a narrow back country road.

Although pretty comical, it was kind of a cheap trick because upon finding our way back to the highway (via good fortune, gas-station directions, and 10 miles of “Deliverance” jokes) we discovered a two hour traffic jam ahead of us.

After some time had past, it seemed the wait had gotten the better of many of those on the waiting side, and they were beginning to cut-back across the median.

About forty five minutes into the traffic jam there was a family of about four or five older women and children, their Lincoln continental was stuck in the wet grassy median. They were about 100 feet ahead of us, and having ample time to observe them, I noticed that although we had moved 20-ft in 10-min no one ahead of us had gotten out to help. Strange it seemed, and yet sadly predicable, how unlikely it is for people to give up something as insignificant as their place-in-line to lend a hand to a stranger, not to mention put themselves in physical danger for one.

Reflecting on this silently as we crept ahead, I thought to myself – “What separates those who are willing to help from those who don’t.” The obvious answer – Attitude!  “Ok, so what attitude does the person who helps have – abundance, confidence, self-reliance, benevolence, protector.  Then the person who doesn’t help would likely have the opposite – scarcity, selfish, irresolute.

What about me….?”

As we moved a few car lengths closer I could feel the pressure, the urge, to take action. “Kalon” I said “You ready to get out and push?” I said with a chuckle, getting out of the car.

Kalon and I started pushing, ……..nothing! I’ll admit that I felt a little silly, the two of us busting our tails trying to push this massive car up a muddy hill, but a weird thing happened, the more we pushed the more people started pulling over and getting out of their cars to help. It was truly amazing… shugyo had started early!

To say life is a battlefield is more than just a metaphor – we struggle to succeed, struggle to overcome obstacles – including each other. Even without being particularly competitive or success-oriented, we all have a method by which we measure our personal success, judge which victories are truly meaningful to us, and decide at what price we want it.

We did eventually succeed in getting the car unstuck, and it’s a victory I think was worth more than I paid for it. I got a chance to reaffirm my faith in myself, and hopefully passed on something of value to my fellowman. And if you’re reading this… thank you, family in the red Lincoln continental.

“Wherever I go, everyone is a little bit safer because I am there.
Wherever I am, anyone in need has a friend.
Whenever I return home, everyone is happy I am there.”

David Dinius
Jizai Martial Arts
Kansas City, MO