Follow up on New Years Goals

This is an excerpt of an article Dr. Tae Yun Kim published way back in 2010, but it is timeless and applies today and every day.

New Year’s Resolutions – are they not a desire to change?  People do not want to continue as usual – they want something different in themselves, in their lives.

I always ask my students – if you want to know what you will be like in 5 years, look into mirror now – this is you in 5 years, if you don’t change!  If you don’t want to be in the same place in your life that you are right now, you must change! 

So, one way I help my students keep focused on the importance of living their life purposefully is to look at their shoes before going to bed.  “Remember,” I say, “you really don’t know if you’ll be here tomorrow to walk again in these shoes!  While you were in these shoes today, did you go where you needed?  Create what you needed to create?  Did you walk with love?  So if you and your shoes are still there in the morning, remember when you put them on to live as though the new day could again be your last one.”

So instead of recklessly or carelessly drifting from day to day, why not seize this brief moment of time in your life and create an epic instead of a tragedy!  What else better to do with your time?  As long as you are alive and conscious right now, why not use this time to experience the most you can from life – rather than the least.  Or do you want to pretend you don’t have choices?

I really like this as it applies so much in my daily life! Won't you give it a try too and follow Dr. Tae Yun Kim's invitation?
I picked this picture of the very first almond blossom from Dr. Tae Yun Kim's garden as a symbol of change - and that Mother nature always knows best how to bring it about.

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...

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.