So… I put up a video on Facebook several years back, showing a flow sequence from a Thai-Indonesian martial art I am a guru in.
It received rave reviews. Even so, I was shocked by the comments people made. Over and over I read comments such as,
“Looks like Taekwondo.”
“Reminds me of Karate.”
“Looks like Kung Fu.”
“Takes me back to my study of Aikido.”
“Looks like Savate.”
“That is what we practice in Ving Tsun.”
I was bewildered. How could all of these different people look at what I was doing and see an art that they had practiced or were engaged in now? How did they not see the uniqueness of what I was doing?
That’s when I realized how often we look at “reality” but see with our brain. Instead of seeing what is on the outside, we see what is already inside of us.
It takes practice, skill, and patience to truly see something originally, and do so without comparing it to what you have already learned.
Two years ago I was driving in the Big Horn Mountains in Wyoming. The Crow Native riding along with me, blurted, “Look, there’s a herd of elk.”
“Where?” I asked.
“Over there. There’s at least 500 of them.”
I pulled to the side of the road, walked 30 yards toward the fence to get a better view, and still couldn’t see them.
A man from Alabama handed me his binoculars. I still couldn’t make them out. All I saw was green grass with brown patches of dirt here and there.
With a little more guidance, I tuned in and saw the elk that were a half-mile away. It was the first time I saw elk in the wild, but it wasn’t the last. Today, I can spot them with ease.
The first time I saw a bald eagle was when someone pointed to one resting at the top of a tree. Today I see bald eagles almost everyday but before I only saw trees. And it makes me wonder how many times I have walked or driven past an eagle without seeing it.
Improving your self-image is similar to seeing an elk or bald eagle for the first time.
At first you may not be able to see yourself being different than you are now. But with some guidance, you will realize that you must see the change you want to become on the inside first.
Once you see what you want on the inside, you’re much, much closer to seeing it in reality.
That’s the way the brain works. You see on the outside a reflection of what is on the inside.
And that’s why I frequently use the phrase….
See it. Feel it. Be it.
Matt Furey
