Toss a Man a Day

You go, gurl! 'At's right, show 'im!

Not really. Well, okay, a little bit really. But that's just my opinion.

This is Daughter #1 in her Aikido class. See the guy on the mat, on his back, feet up in the air? She just threw him. Although I heartily approve of that particular activity, it's not why I decided to write this.

See her face? Okay, then, see the bottom of her face? If you could see the rest of it, you'd see an expression of complete neutrality. She didn't have to exert herself in order to get that guy on the floor. See her stance? It's perfect. It's loose and graceful, not tightened up. Her center of gravity is exactly where it's supposed to be, balanced.

Wanna know how she did it? Too bad, I'm telling you anyway.

She used the guy's energy, not hers. He came at her, and she used his momentum to toss him. She had all her sh** together, in the right places, so didn't even have to try.

That's a pretty good metaphor for life. Finding your center, keeping your balance, staying neutral, getting all your sh** together. Then when life sends something negative your way, you can toss it without even having to try very much. You can use the negativity coming at you and barely need to touch it to effectively deal with it. That negative energy can become your energy, only reversed. And then you can walk away from it.

I really, really need to remember this.