Heart to Heart

Welcome to this blog!

Here, I will share the teachings of my favorite teacher, Martial Arts Grandmaster Tae Yun Kim. They are tidbits of her great wisdom and my hope is that they will help you as much as they have helped me.

Have a wonderful time reading!

Tuesday, July 29, 2008

One of my favorite stories: The Frog and the Scorpion

Grandmaster Tae Yun Kim is the ultimate story teller. When she tells a story, not only is it alive, and you feel totally wrapped up in it, there is also always a lesson in the story.
Here is one of my very favorites:



Once there was a frog and a scorpion who both wanted to get to the other side of a river. It was no problem for the frog. All he needed to do was jump in and swim to the other side. It was a different story for the scorpion, however, because he had no way to cross the river by himself.


Now, as a little background history, the frog and the scorpion had a rocky time together in times past. The scorpion had always been in some kind of trouble with the authorities, always instigating, always scheming, and always trying to pull the frog into his bad deeds. He always tried to put blame on the frog and always tried to sting him one way or another. Finally, the scorpion was captured and had to spend considerable time in jail for all the crimes he committed.

So now that scorpion was free again, the frog was on high alert. He remembered well the bad times caused by the scorpion and he wanted nothing to do with him. But the scorpion seemed like he had undergone a change of heart during his time in jail. He seemed meek and mild and well mannered.

He humbly asked the frog for help in crossing the river. “Say, Frog, would you be willing to allow me to ride on your back across the river?” he asked earnestly. The frog was surprised. This was very different from the demanding, “Do as I say or else I will hurt you!”

Still, the frog was not convinced. “Are you kidding?” the frog answered. “You’ll sting me and I’ll die! No, I won’t help you.”

“But wait, “ the scorpion pleaded. “Just think. If I sting you and you die, then I would die, too! So why would I do something that would hurt both of us?”

The frog thought about it. The scorpion did make sense. Besides, he also seemed like a changed being. Finally, after much hesitation, the frog said reluctantly, “Ok, do you promise not to sting me?”

Of course I promise,” the scorpion replied, and happily jumped on the frog’s back. So off they went into the river. But, about halfway across, the scorpion began to feel an irresistible urge to rising from deep within. He wanted to sting the frog! He lifted his stinger up high, and got ready to sting. Last second, he remembered that he himself would perish too, if he were to sting the frog.

But again, the urge came back, this time with such a vengeance that he barely caught himself in the last second. He had to grab his stinger and literally hold himself back, with all the strength he could muster. He knew that if he gave in, he would surely die.

After they were almost within reach of the shore, the urge to sting was too much for the scorpion, and, not having much experience with being disciplined, he suddenly, without any warning, stung the frog. Oh, the relief! How good that second felt, to sink that stinger into the frog!

But immediately he had to bear the consequences. “Why did you do that?” the frog exclaimed in stunned amazement. “Do you realize what you’ve done? Now we are both going to die! Why? You promised!”

“I know,” the scorpion said. “But why?” the astonished frog continued to ask. “Why?”

“I am sorry frog. I couldn’t help it,” gurgled the scorpion, sinking below the water. “It’s just my nature.”

Monday, July 28, 2008

Birthday Jung SuWon Style, part 3



And here is the conclusion to the previous story, including another "story within the story".....

Moments like this are my biggest reward. To show people the power they have in them and for them to start seeing even the smallest glimpse of that, the possibilities ahead of them, what more can I ask for?

In this case, it got even better. His parents and older brother also train, and were there, clapping and expressing their joy. And grandmother came running into the Do Jang, saying how she was so grateful to David for bringing her to his school, and how happy she was to meet me.

And John also has a great story. He used to be addicted to video games, playing them for many hours a day, to the extent that his schoolwork was suffering greatly. His parents brought this to my attention since they weren’t successful in getting him to stop.

Now I don’t think all video games are bad. It’s just that the majority of them do not have any educational value, and are about violence and all manner of undesirable behavior.

My approach to teaching children isn’t like most people’s. Rather than telling them what they can and can’t do, I ask them questions, how they feel about it, what their thoughts are. In this case, I asked John why he was playing the games. He said because everyone else at his school is playing them and that it is somewhat of a status symbol of how well you can play those games. He admitted that most of the games are very violent and teaching the wrong things, but was very attached to them. So I asked him, “John, if you had a child your age and you loved him very very much, would you allow him to play these games?” John was stunned. Nobody had ever asked him anything like this before. After some soul searching, John said that he would not want his son to play any of the games he was playing, because “they wouldn’t be good for him and they would be teaching him the wrong things.”

My next question to him was, “So, if you wouldn’t want your child to play these games, do you think it’s ok for you to play them?”

Again, a bewildered look. But with a smile he responded that it wasn’t good for him either.

And without me asking him anything further, the next day he brought his entire collection of video games. What a beautiful attitude! But not only that, a couple of days later he asked me if books worked the same way, that if you read bad books, will they influence him like video games. Without me having to say anything, he answered his own question and the following class he brought his collection of books that he considered “not good for me”.

So you see, no matter how young, how old, what belt level, every student is benefiting from training in his or her very own, very special way, and that is my greatest joy and my greatest reward in life.

Monday, July 21, 2008

Birthday Jung SuWon Style: part 2


Touched by his warrior spirit and boundless enthusiasm, I decided to honor his choice. “Bring a board”, I told some senior belts. “Let’s get him his real birthday present”. Out came a full size board, not the small size we use for children, but a regular one. David was getting nervous. He hadn’t expected this! Even before he knew what kind of break he was supposed to do, he was already sweating and nervous. But I teach my students, ready any time, any place, life happens right here and right now, and testing is not just on testing day! Every class is a testing in itself!

John, come on up! And John, also 11 years old and also one of David’s best friends, came up. “Down on your knees, in front of the board” he was told. And John got into position. Beads of sweat were gathering on David’s forehead. He was getting a little shaky. To jump over a person, while performing a flying sidekick, he had never done such a thing! He was only a yellow belt!

“Do you trust me?” I asked him.” A loud and resounding “Yes Ma’am” boomed across the Do Jang. “Do you believe me when I tell you that you can do this?” Another “Yes Ma’am” came back.

With a surprisingly loud and roaring ki up, he started running towards the board. Can you imagine what must have gone through this young warrior’s mind as he was running toward the board? He was asked to do something he had never done before. And he was asked to do it front of his whole family, including his grandmother!

With another ki up he lifted off from the ground, jumped over John with plenty of room to spare, but fell right into the board, without getting to kick or breaking the board.

David was now really nervous and started to doubt. Could he really do it? Maybe this one time Grandmaster wasn’t right? Maybe just this once? Maybe he really just couldn’t do it?

I felt for this brave little warrior. I asked everyone in the Do Jang, “what do you think, can he do it?”

“He Can Do, She Can Do, Why not me! Yes Ma’am, he can do it no problem” the entire Do Jang was vibrating back.

With a big smile and an even bigger ki up, David tried again. He had complete and total focus and concentration. Nothing was between him and the board. No noisy mind. No questioning. Only focus on the task ahead. And the board shattered! The look on David’s face was priceless. Not quite realizing yet what had happened, it went from puzzled to the biggest smile you can imagine!

Moments like this are my biggest reward. To show people the power they have in them and for them to start seeing even the smallest glimpse of that, the possibilities ahead of them, what more can I ask for?

Sunday, July 20, 2008

Birthday Jung SuWon Style - part 1




Here is one of my favorite real life stories, which I witnessed - as told by Grandmaster Tae Yun Kim:

My happiest moments are when I know I am helping people lead richer and fuller lives. Let me share with you a very heart warming story that just happened recently. This is about our younger generation – the ones that will be our leaders of tomorrow. It is so important to help them, to lead and guide them through this maze called modern world. Daily they are bombarded by peer pressure in school – their environment. When a new fad comes up, they all need to follow it if they don’t want to be considered outcasts.

One night, just as class was coming to an end, one young student, David, approached me, telling me his grandmother was in the lobby, watching. He said she had flown in from far away to visit with them, because it was his birthday that day.

I was wondering – at age 11, children usually love to go out to dinner, or to the movies, or have a party, or play games, or something of that sort. But he was here in a Martial Arts class? His parents added, well, we asked him where he wanted to have his birthday dinner and what he wanted to do, especially with his grandmother, but he said he wanted to celebrate his birthday with me, at Jung Suwon! And he told his grandmother that Jung SuWon was more important to him than movies or fancy restaurants, and that he wanted her to see what meant so much in his life!

And the rest of the story, well you'll see that on my next blog...

Saturday, July 19, 2008

Grandmaster Tae Yun Kim: Are you where you want to be?



If you are not where you want to be, now is the time to figure out where you want to go and how you’re going to get there. But there is no point making plans until you know what you want. And to know what you want, you have to examine your priorities.

Ask yourself: if you had only five days to live, what would you do in those five days?” The way you answer tells you much about what your real values and priorities are.

Ask yourself that question now. Don’t be surprised if you don’t spend your last five days at your job or painting the house (which perhaps you may have done faithfully every weekend recently). Chances are you’ll choose to do what really matters to you, what you really really love, what is really you. Chances are you’ll choose to be with your family or certain friends in a special way. Or perhaps you might choose solitude, experiencing nature’s beauty in a private way. Or dancing. Or playing music. Answer for yourself, and then ask, “With every day that I do have now, how much time do I give to these things?” (After all, you could be living your last five days right now!)”

The way that you answer that question gives you very important clues regarding your true direction in life. Your Silent Master consciousness speaks to you powerfully through your true desires. Of course I am not talking about destructive or distorted desires like obsessive smoking and drinking. The desires you feel through the exercise above are most likely your true desires, and you have them for a reason. They tell you much about who you are as a unique individual and your unique role to play here on earth. Your desires will never be exactly like anybody else’s.

Have you created a life that allows you to experience your own truths? Or have you created a life that has taken you so far from your inner truth that only during your last five days on earth will you allow yourself to experience what you love? If you find you are living here without enjoyment, without realizing your personal truth, then you have a right to change! That is what self-discovery is all about: fulfilling your true desires, not just thinking about them. As you find your true self, automatically you find your true place, your true activities, and your true fulfillment.

So you see, my dear fellow Martial Artists, death is nothing to be afraid of, only to prepare for. Let us live this life – every second, every moment - to the fullest, with peace, harmony, and joy in our hearts, and helping as many people as possible along our path. Let us make a difference in this world; let us be remembered with beautiful thoughts by those we leave behind.

Thursday, July 17, 2008

Grandmaster Tae Yun Kim talks about rebirth


Ever now moment you experience is a birth, a new opportunity to think a new thought or take a new attitude. When you arrive on the earth, it is a birth, a chance to create a life. But each new day is also a birth. Each time you leave behind an old outmoded self-concept, it is a birth. Each time you create a new situation in your life, it is a birth. Birth and “death” are simultaneous events because something old has to “die” to give way to the new. This process goes on minute-by-minute, day-by-day, from the time you arrive until the time you leave.

In one sense death is necessary to create change. Learn to love change and to welcome it. One of the results of fear is a reluctance to accept change and to welcome it. Fear is an immobilizing feeling and tends to keep us where we are no matter where that is. Perhaps we fear change because it indeed reminds us of death, and we don’t welcome the death of anything, even the death of the old. But always remember that death is really birth because it is a change from the old to the new. See change as newness ever dawning, leading you from one opportunity to another.

Wednesday, July 16, 2008

Grandmaster Tae Yun Kim: Live in there Here and Now!




Unfortunately, death seems so mysterious, baffling, horrible and final that we don’t want to consider it in our daily lives. But we must have the courage to look squarely at the limited time frame death gives us, and act accordingly. You don’t know when death will come. The “someday” you wait for may never come, simply because you won’t be here to experience it!

Of course, in reality, what is really you will never die. Your Silent Master consciousness is eternal; only your manifestations – including your present body and life – come and go from your consciousness. So we’re talking now about the death of your physical manifestation, and not of your eternal true self.

The mystery surrounding the time of our exit from this life helps us concentrate on living instead of dying; but nevertheless we must remain aware that since we have a limited time span, we need to reach for our goals now. We must always live now to the fullest because that is the only time we have.

Wednesday, July 9, 2008

Grandmaster Tae Yun Kim: the more serious side of life



Pinch yourself. Feel the pinch. Feel your body. Some day, this body will be gone. Some day, you will no longer be practicing your forms on the Do Jang floor. You will no longer execute this beautiful jump spinning roundhouse kick, or do your favorite break.

We do not know the time, but no matter who you are, and what you are doing with your life, we all, some day, will have to continue our journey without this body. So it is important to do, whatever it is that you want to accomplish in your life – right here, right now. “Carpe Diem”, the Romans used to say, “Carpe Diem, sed fugit interea irreparabile tempus”. Seize the day! Because time, that you can’t bring back, is fleeing!”

But in our here and now, especially in the Western World, many of us are seduced into a sense of “foreverness” about our lives, thinking that we have unlimited time to get somewhere or do something. Not that we say that consciously to ourselves. We don’t say, “I’m going to be alive forever;” we just act that way. We simply do not have the feeling from day to day that eventually we are going to die, or that our time here is limited.

Since we don’t live from moment to moment with the awareness that we could die at anytime, we take our time answering the questions mentioned above, or we avoid them altogether. Even if we ask a question like “Am I where I want to be?” it’s all too easy to reply “Well, I’ll get there someday,” and drop the matter right there. We tend to put off the fulfillment of our real goals to “when I retire,” or “when the kids are out of the house,” or “when I have time.”

“Someday” is never going to come. The only time there is, is now. When “someday” comes, it will be now. So what you think and do right now is what will happen on the mythical “someday”.

Tuesday, July 8, 2008

Grandmaster Tae Yun Kim: Food and you




Food is also created from consciousness, as everything else. Since your body is the temple of your Silent Master, give it the loving food and exercise that expresses your intent to be pure, real, and whole.

Talking about food: eating is an energy exchange and when you prepare and eat food, you are harnessing the energy in the vegetables, grains, and meats to interact with your energy, thereby creating more energy. Naturally you always want to eat the best quality food you can. But some people ask me what to do when they’re traveling and have to eat fast food at times. Because food exists in consciousness, it has the energy of consciousness. When you eat, you bring this energy into your body. If you’re in a situation where junk food is your only choice, remember that your positive attitude helps you get the best energy you can out of the food until a better selection is available.

It’s your attitude toward what you eat – no matter whether it’s vegetables or hot dogs – that is the most important thing. Of course, vegetables or and hot dogs have different nutritional value. Choose the purest and highest quality food you can in the circumstances.

The energy in foods is not all the same. Apples grown in an environment of greed, commercialism and neglect will not have the same energy as apples grown in an orchard where the farmer lovingly attended the trees, gave it the best plant foods and soil, and eliminated poisons from the environment. The consciousness involved in the creation of the apples is different in each case.

Likewise, when you prepare your food, the energy you put into the process will affect the quality of the outcome. Was your food prepared with love and care and the will to nourish? Or was it prepared with feelings of anger and resentment, anxiety and hurry? When you eat food prepared either way, it will have a nourishing quality that corresponds to the energy and intent of the preparer.

For example, remember when you invited your girl friend, or boy friend or some loved one, to a special dinner. Remember how you started out by carefully shopping for the best foods available, even making special trips to Farmers Markets, bakeries and butchers shops. You spent hours preparing that special meal, thinking only happy thoughts and how wonderful this dinner will be with your loved one. Remember the excitement and the good feelings once you were eating it together?

On the other hand, remember a time you were really upset at someone or something, and just threw together a meal in a hurry, still upset and angry. How did that meal taste? How did you feel afterwards? Chances are, you had an upset stomach or got otherwise sick.

Monday, July 7, 2008

Grandmaster Tae Yun Kim: more about the body - mind connection



Let your body help you develop better mental concepts. Since your body is connected to consciousness, watch your physical states and see what they may be telling you about your thinking. Your body shows you – in one way or another – your mental state. Depressed people slouch and shuffle. Happy people have a bounce and lightness in their step. When your body is acting tired and sluggish and you know you’re healthy and have had plenty of rest, what is your body telling you? What is it you don’t want to do? What are you “too tired” to confront or overcome? What are you “sick and tired” of?

Even if you are not a “physical” person – especially if you are not a physical person – try demanding more physical action from yourself. Let this demand send a message to your mind that you want to be more free and more unlimited, whether that means getting some kind of healing, or gaining more stamina, or simply expanding your concept of yourself.

When you push yourself physically and make demands on yourself for greater physical freedom, you can’t help but grow spiritually. You are insisting that the freedom of your original self manifest physically and materially. This is why physical training is an important part of the Jung SuWon training I teach. By disciplining the body into accepting more power and more ability to perform, your mind responds with more power and more ability to perform. This interplay is energizing. The more limitations you overcome, the more of your natural energy you can experience.

Sunday, July 6, 2008

Grandmaster Tae Yun Kim on Body-Mind Connection



Discipline of your body works to discipline the mind. Discipline your mind and you strengthen your body.

Appreciation is the first step. What if you could use only certain parts of your body? Have you ever thought of what you would do if you had only one arm? Or no arms? Or no sight? Most people who enter my martial arts school are physically healthy and take their bodies for granted. It’s for this reason I sometimes have them try to do what they think are normal, everyday things without the use of their legs or arms or eyes. Very quickly they learn how complex the movements of their hands can be, or how precious their sight is. Your body is a miraculous gift. Utilize it, care for it, and strengthen it. Don’t waste it or take it for granted.

If you want greater physical freedom, you must understand that your body will respond very much to your mind, and your mind will respond to what you do with your body. Free physical movement is a picture of the free mobility of consciousness. Have you tried to play a good game of your favorite sport when your mind was preoccupied with a worrisome situation? You may have noticed that when you’re tense and nervous, your body doesn’t move freely and easily. The tense state literally tends to keep your muscles rigid. And just the reverse is true. When you are happy and relaxed, your physical movement is generally free and easy.

Even the medical profession recognizes the connection of body and mind in the physical therapy process. A person who must learn to walk again after an accident goes through many emotional and mental changes in the process of reconnecting with the walking muscles. Therapists work with the patient’s attitudes as well as with their muscle groups.

Saturday, July 5, 2008

Grandmaster Tae Yun Kim on exercise and nutrition



Let’s stay on the topic of exercise and nutrition for a moment. We all, as Martial Artists, know the importance of keeping ourselves fit and agile and in good shape. Even if we are so busy with other things, we must never forget our foundation and root. Our body and mind are one. Because your body is connected with your mind, bringing your body under control means bringing your mind under control. And vice versa, of course. Whatever disciplines you apply to your mind affect your body.
Since your body and mind are connected, you can use physical exercise to help purify your mind. Remember, when you purify your mind and body, you increase your energy. And you purify your mind and body by doing everything you can to remove limitation. Because body and mind are one, when you overcome physical limitation, you simultaneously overcome mental limitation.

It’s a two-way process. For instance, when you encourage your body to go the extra mile around the track, one more mile than you did the day before, you’re sending a message to your mind that says, “I can grow; I can change; I can break limits.” This good message that your mind receives when you demand extra performance from your body then goes on to encourage even better performance, and not just in running. The message will now extend to other areas of your life. “I can grow; I can change; I can break limits” could also help you create new and better procedures at work that result in a promotion or better position.

Remember at all times, that your body deserves respect. It is the most elegant creation you possess. Your body is the embodiment of ideas in your Silent Master consciousness. Just as you learn to use your mind properly, think of how important it is, then, to use and care for your body with the same respect and holiness you give your spiritual consciousness. How? Just as you properly use and exercise your thought, so you should properly use and exercise your body. You’ve begun to learn that there is much more you can do with your mind; don’t you think there is much more you can do with your body?

Friday, July 4, 2008

Grandmaster Tae Yun Kim's Fisherman story, part 3




Just as he was reaching the shore, he suddenly had a fear that maybe his family had been hurt or lost. But then he heard voices calling and saw his children rushing into the ocean toward him. They all wept as they embraced, and together they walked toward the house.

As the wife saw her husband approaching with the children, she was relieved, but she began to cry as she thought of how he would beat her when he saw the burned house. She saw his smiling face coming toward her, but she cowered, dreading the encounter. When he came near, she timidly backed away, but to her surprise he reached out and embraced her warmly. She stammered as she tried to find words to tell him what had happened, but he wouldn’t listen. As he held her tightly, he wanted only to tell her that the burning house had saved his life. “ The flames shone through the darkness where I was lost at sea, “ he said lovingly, “and they guided me home! Now I have the chance I prayed for to be the husband you want and the father my children need.”

Here we see how the fisherman, through a traumatic event, completely let go of the past in order to discover his true self again. He had “lost” himself long ago emotionally and mentally. And now he was experiencing the picture of the state of mind: he was “lost” at sea, floating around in blackness. But the storm was a blessing in disguise. It as the thing that brought him back to life! Not sunshine, but rather a storm did it. Was it a trauma? Yes. But instead of giving up and drowning, he mad the storm an opportunity to remember his true self. As a result, the only thing that drowned in the dark ocean was his misery and anger.

The family likewise experienced pain and despair. The burning house could have resulted in simply a destroyed home. Instead, the house was burning for a reason! The flames were the light of life to the fisherman. They brought him home again. So, in spite of the negative appearance of this seeming disaster, in reality everything worked together for good to bring love and healing. The negative situation turned into a positive one.

Here’s something important to remember: This story ended in love and reunion instead of tragedy because the fisherman took action. Negative don’t automatically turn into positives. The house could have burned down for nothing. The fisherman could have died for nothing. If he had continued with his anger and defeatism and despair, he wouldn’t have looked around to see the tiny flicker of light, and would have surely drowned. (When we look only at the dirt on the ground, we don’t see the stars in the sky!) But instead, the fisherman changed his attitude, became open and receptive to a new state of mind. He felt remorse for the first time. And his action led his perception of the light that saved his life.

Likewise, Love is behind all the events, even the obstacles in your life, and you can hold the right ideas as the fisherman did so that everything works together ultimately for good. Cling to the truth no matter what you see happening, and the truth you hold will transform your experience.

Remember, rejoice in the lesson of the pain and hurt, it makes you stronger, and it gives you freedom. Whatever you do in your life, whatever the situation may be, you are in control of your life. The power is in you; it is your personal choice what you do in your life. Even when you are all alone in the middle of the ocean! Or in the middle of the ocean of life! Take charge!

Thursday, July 3, 2008

Grandmaster Tae Yun Kim's Fisherman story - part 2




The fisherman was so busy complaining he didn’t notice that a dark storm had been building and was just about to turn violent. In a matter of minutes, massive ocean waves were writhing and churning furiously. His little boat was cast about like a helpless twig, and then suddenly the boat exploded into tiny pieces. The fisherman was cast into the water. Desperately he groped for the largest piece of the fragmented boat he could see, and he clung to it, struggling to stay afloat.

Meanwhile, the storm tore through the village as well. The fisherman’s family was at home when it hit. Without warning the roof suddenly crashed down upon them and flames shot out from the stove. Flames began engulfing the house quickly, and although they tried to put out the fire, all was to no avail. Frightened for her children’s lives, the wife was almost more afraid of her husband’s rage when he would return to find the house burned down. Still, she sent the children to the docks to look for him since he hadn’t returned on time.

The children were likewise frightened as they ran to the docks. Even though they normally thought only of how they feared their father, now they truly worried that he was in danger. At the docks, they saw that most of the fishermen had returned safely, but their father was nowhere to be found. They called and waited.

At sea, the storm had finally abated. But it was totally dark. There in the black of night, the fisherman floated, weeping and clinging to the piece of wood, very very alone. All his life he had been an angry man, taking for granted all that he had and complaining about everything. Now he was going to die alone in the middle of the darkness and a vast, compassionless ocean. Strangely, his thoughts turned to his family. He thought intensely about how he had never told them he loved them, and he he’d never taken any time with them. He really did care for them, and now he deeply regretted his miserable life and how he had never known any joy or warmth. At that moment, he wanted to be with his family more than anything in the world.

But where was the coast? He couldn’t see in the darkness, so he couldn’t tell which direction to swim. Tired and cold, he was ready to give up hope, but suddenly off in the distance he saw a faint glimmer. Yes, it was there, a small light off to the side. He started swimming toward the light. With each stroke, he began to plan how he was going to change things, how he was going to be the husband and father he’d never been. For hours the light guided him, until finally he began to see his fishing village in the distance. The light was bringing him home, so he pushed himself even harder.

Read more next time..... :)

Tuesday, July 1, 2008

A story by Grandmaster Tae Yun Kim: The miserable Fisherman




Here is one of my favorite stories of Grandmaster Tae Yun Kim:

See what you can learn from it, and how you can apply it to your own life. Which of the characters in the story is most like you? How can you change? How can you apply the lessons of this story to your life? So let’s sit back and relax…..

There was once a fisherman who was always angry and miserable. He had no belief in the goodness of life, never expected any pleasure, and never looked for any happiness. He never expressed any love or affection, and often vented his rage by beating his wife and children. His family was terrified of him, and everyone who knew him avoided him because of his wrathful behavior. His wife and children often wished he would never come back from his fishing trips.

Let’s stop here for a moment. Does this scenario sound familiar to you? Are you like the fisherman, or like his wife? Or if not, do you know of someone who is? Have you tried hard to change your situation, or have you accepted it as inevitable fate? Let’s read on.

One day, the fisherman left for the docks after his usual morning of screaming at his “lazy, good-for-nothing” children and railing at his wife for the breakfast that was never cooked right. Do you act like that sometime too, my dear reader? Do you sometime just seem to get up out of bed on the wrong foot and let everyone know about it? Or are you on the receiving side, and your partner always finds fault in you? Are you meek and submissive like the wife in the story, or do you fight back? What are you doing about it?

The fisherman didn’t do anything but go out to sea as usual, ignoring his feelings and that of his family. Out at sea, the fish weren’t biting, and the fisherman worked himself into an even meaner state. He cursed that he didn’t deserve such a hard life and worthless family and how nothing ever worked out right for him.

Does that sound familiar? Do you sometimes blame your circumstances when things don’t go as you would want them to go? What do you think you should do instead?

.....and stay in tune for the rest of the story.....