INSULATION

Since we live in WNY, we think of insulation as a good thing…it keeps us warm in the winter and actually helps keep us cooler in the summer. In life, especially in a martial art sense, it could be a bad thing. Insulation provides us with comfort. But too much comfort can cause us to become weak and susceptible to many adverse things in our lives. My grandmother used to tell me I needed to ingest a “teaspoon of dirt” every month to stay healthy. (She lived to almost 100.) One of the things she was trying to say was that it’s OK to get dirty, eat something if it fell on the ground (3 second rule), and it’s OK to be around germs. She may not have thought about it but this was a great way to build up your immune system. Today we wash our hands till they are red, we use hand sanitizer and do just about anything to avoid what could be minimally unhealthy. In life, we are too insulated from conflict or discomfort. Bullying has always been around and always will be. If we are so insulated from it, we never learn hoe to deal with it in a healthy, effective manner. People would rather email someone or pray to get an answering machine than to actually speak to someone (yet alone have a face-to-face) to discuss an uncomfortable topic. We have become so insulated that we are failing to become functioning human beings. Do not fear “dealing” with a situation or speaking to a person when you know it needs to be done. Comfort is just an illusion. Pil-Sung!