Written by “A man who dares to waste one hour of time has not discovered the value of life.”
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A common archetype in myths and fairy tales is the bridge troll. In these stories the troll guarding the bridge demands a toll from the hero before they can cross it. Sometimes it’s a ferry man who’ll take the adventurer across the river for an ounce of silver. The meaning is the same either way. Nothing valuable comes free. In Norse mythology, Odin, the king of the god’s has one eye because he gouged out an eye for wisdom. It’s a stark reminder of the high price of wisdom.
A good martial artist pays more than their tuition. If I were offered the wisdom, knowledge, and skill of a martial artist with decades of experience for one of my eyeballs, I may consider the offer. Because the true currency we’re all paying with is time. Time is only paid; it is never earned.
Last year I offered to train one of my co-workers. He said to me on more than one occasion that he wanted to learn martial arts. I was looking for someone to practice with anyways and I needed a test dummy. That’s someone who I can practice new techniques on. I was upfront about my intentions, and he seemed game.
After our first session I explained to him my only requirement, which was he needed to practice at home. We were only meeting once a week. All of you know that you need to train more than once a week to improve. I told him it was critical he practices on his own or we’re wasting our time. To my dismay he said he didn’t have time for practicing. His excuse was that he was taking a college class. At one point in my life, I was working full-time, doing college full-time, taking care of my family, and STILL training 2-3 days a week. I would expect an excuse like that from a teenager. Although there are some teenagers who never make excuses. Not a grown man who did his very best to convince me that he loved martial arts.
I asked him if he could spare 15 minutes a day. He shocked me again, by shaking his head and muttering something that sounded like a “no.” I dropped the number and asked if he could spare 5 minutes a day, and he said it would be “very difficult.” I was dumbfounded. I work with this guy, and I see him standing in the hallways chatting people up…a lot. So, I didn’t trust his work ethic. I told him what any self-respecting teacher should say, “GET LOST.” Well, those weren’t the actual words but that’s what I thought. I said in a respectful way that maybe this wasn’t for him.
A wise person knows the true cost of an endeavor. One of those costs is always time. It’s the greatest one of all.
Well said. And the ability to manage time during the challenge is paramount. This post has reminded me to do a lesson on time management with the team.