The Fight That Will Not Be Won

Last week a longtime friend and supporter of our dojo, Celia Nachlas, passed away. Mother to Miriam Lippe and grandmother to Larissa and Hannah Lippe, Celia has contributed much to the wide family of people who knew her. I appreciate the time she spent here.

“I know this glass is already broken, so I enjoy it incredibly.” — Achaan Chah Subato

I first read those words sometime after my Sensei had passed away. It was a passage he’d enjoyed; something which held meaning as he faced an illness from which he might not recover. Something he wanted to be read when he had passed.

I am a fixer, a problem solver – especially where it comes to health and well-being. I never accept that an injury, illness, or bad outcome is just the way of things. I would always strive to improve the situation. As did Sensei. As did Celia.

So how do you approach the fight that will not be won? Each of us is given life, and each of those lives is temporary. To struggle against that fact is futile, just as it is futile for me, at 5’1”, to use muscle to force an Aikido technique from the wrong position on a 6’ man. The more I try to deny what IS, the harder things become.

Neither is it helpful to give up and accept failure as inevitable. There is always a way forward; there is always room for growth. For most of us, there is a great deal of room for growth.

Relax. Accept the reality of things. Lean in and fully inhabit that reality. Make it ring, like the beautiful glass that is already broken.

I hope your day is beautiful.