The Art of Mental Training - a Guide to Performance Excellence (Classic Edition) (11 page)

BOOK: The Art of Mental Training - a Guide to Performance Excellence (Classic Edition)
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“I hope you’re not intending to
die any day soon,” I joked, a bit uneasily.

“Who knows?  So much is not
given to us to know.  But, even if this should happen, Danielsan, it is not the
end.  It is only the beginning of something else, something different.  This is
why I never say good-bye.”

I was startled to realize that
this was true.  In all the years I’d known Leo-tai; he’d always just drifted
off, or shut the door with a smile.  I couldn’t ever remember his saying,
“Goodbye.”

Something about his tone made
me glance at him again, was this the goodbye he never actually said?  Was he
going where someone else needed him more?  It had been years since we had
trained together steadily, but he always seemed to be there, the voice on the
end of a telephone, the letter from some place I’d never been, a presence by my
shoulder, his teachings now always a part of me.

“Now,” he said, once he was
settled.  “Tell me why you are sad.”

“Sad? I don’t think I’d call it
being sad,” I said.  “Perhaps feeling a little lost—somewhat incomplete . . .
yes—but not sad.”

So much had changed.  The
military had put me in hot spots all over the world.  I had seen enough.  I was
done with it.  I had managed to walk away—unlike some of my friends, and life
had dealt some devastating blows.  I sensed that he could tell that I wasn’t
kidding, that I was really disillusioned with everything . . . Yet he at least
was still the same, still watching me with that old, considering look in his
eyes.

“You’ve become disillusioned.” 
He said.

“That’s an understatement.” I
replied.

“There came a point when it was
clear to you that where you were no longer inspired you—and you realized that
if you stood still, then that’s where you would stay.  What’s wrong with
choosing to not stand still?  Congratulations.  Some people live their whole
lives in chains without realizing that they always held the key.”

He looked at me and gently
shook his head.

“Danielsan, who knows what
awaits you, but never mind the uncertainty that occupies your thinking right
now.  Understand this.  Life doesn’t always go the way we want it to go.  You
dream your dreams, you work your goals, and still, life may not go as you have
planned.  But think about it, where would we be if we had not chosen a path, if
we had put forth no effort into achieving a plan?  In those cases I would say
that one had no direction at all, and there is nothing good about that.”

“Well, that’s exactly how I
feel right now.”  I told my old friend.  “No direction at all.”

“Maybe you feel that way,
Danielsan, but I don’t see it that way.  If someone sets themselves free—from
whatever;  if someone picks themselves up after life hits them with a sucker
punch, that is some direction, at least—wouldn’t you agree?  Picking yourself
up or setting yourself free is direction.  It is part of achieving something.”

I listened as the sun drooped
down beyond the horizon ahead of us.

“Please Leo-tai, can you just
help me see your point?”

“I can.  My point is that even
though we may not understand it, sometimes life will put us on a new path, one
that we would have never asked for, that we have never dreamed of, or ever
imagined, . . . And after all, isn’t that what’s really happening to you?”

“Instead of over-analyzing and
doubting the direction your life has taken, why not simply accept the fact that
there is a new path that has been set before you right now?  Stop the internal
self-doubt.  It only causes confusion.  The fact is that whatever was—is no
more.  It’s gone.  It’s in the past.  And whatever is—well, isn’t that what really
matters?”

I was listening—as I watched
the waves and the seagulls.

“The past is gone my friend. 
You can look back on it but it’s only a reflection.  The future lies ahead . .
. but it's a future that has not yet been realized.  So in reality, today is all
we have.  And today is here.  Why don't you just start walking on your new
path, one step at a time?  Conjure up some new dreams, cast them out to the
universe, keep your head up, have faith, and discover what lies ahead.  Life
itself has put you on this path.  Just trust what is and be with it.”

Leo-tai continued.

“I believe that anyone who does
this, Danielsan, soon finds the new path taking them  in a most natural and
comfortable direction.  Embrace the new adventure; walk into it with strong
self-belief and before long—I suspect—you will find the new direction
rewarding, and amazing beyond anything that you could have ever imagined . . .
Follow the path set before you; follow your destiny.  The universe does not
make mistakes; everyone is exactly where they need to be.  You must remember
this whenever it seems that the pattern of your life has lost its firmness of
purpose.  Always remember . . . you are exactly where you need to be, and
then—” Leo-tai paused.

“And then what?” I asked him.

“And then my friend . . . you
must walk on. You must simply—walk on.”

I let his words sink in.  As
the sun hazed into the sea, I remembered so many other sunset lessons over the
years.  Perhaps Leo-tai was remembering too, for he suddenly said, “From
amongst all our lessons what one most important thing do you think I would
always want you to remember, if there were one, what do you think it might be?”

So many things.  I thought.  I
recalled the fight with the raccoons; the many mistakes I’d made; all the times
he’d picked me up off of the floor, dusted me off, and started me over again. 
I thought hard.  Learning to never give in; not allowing negativity;
self-discipline; staying in the present; control of anger; control of fear;
Imagineering; to believe in my dreams.

And then I remembered:
“Self-belief is what gets everything going.”

“Self-Belief,” I told him.  Our
eyes met and he glowed back at me.

“Very good, Danielsan, you
worried me sometimes, but not anymore,” he told me. “Now, you don’t worry me
anymore.”

“Really?” I said.

“Well, come to think of it—no,
not really, I take it back.”

“Too late, I already heard you
say it,” I joked.

“So?”

“So that’s it, if I heard you
say it, then it must be true, and you can’t take it back . . . Besides, I’ve
got to get going and meet up with some people.  It’s time for me to say
goodbye.”

He looked at me.  “Oh
Danielsan, it’s never goodbye my friend,” Leo-tai reproved me, shaking his
head, smiling as if he were still worried about me.  “It’s never goodbye,” he
told me as I watched him turn away—still smiling—and start his walk back along
the surf.

As he slipped away, I watched
him go; I let him go, a small figure, disappearing into the distance.  I
wondered if this might be the last time I would ever see my old friend—did he
know it?—Today, I still wonder—but back then, I let him go.

And I reflected.

Once more and somehow—he had
done it.  What he told me, his insight that day, made sense.  His lesson helped
me.

And then, as he’d wanted me to
. . .

And like we all must do, at one
time or another . . .

We walk on.

 

 

 

BOOK: The Art of Mental Training - a Guide to Performance Excellence (Classic Edition)
4.67Mb size Format: txt, pdf, ePub
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