And Now, A Few Words . . . .

Squibs & Blurbs

by Jerry Zimmerman

TEANECK, NJ—(Weekly Hubris) —1/31/11 Adages, old saws, aphorisms, words of wisdom, haiku, proverbs, axioms: startlingly concise groups of words that may sneak up on you and conk you on the head, leaving you with the concussion of a brand new viewpoint on your life.

If you’re lucky.

We are constantly bombarded by all sorts of pithy snippets of advice—on TV, in books, in blogs(!), from our friends, our moms and, yes, of course, our spouses.  And, the Age of Aquarius, born many moons ago to bring a new consciousness to our country, still trails behind it a surfeit of both beautiful and banal droplets of ancient wisdom from all sorts of religious and spiritual traditions.

Many, many of these little nuggets of inspiration are wonderful, true and thought-provoking. Some of them are true genius and real gifts. Yet, almost always, when we hear or read one of these compact gems, we simply nod our heads with understanding and march along as before.

Once in a great while—BAM! —you read a line and you are transported. You instantly “get” the whole line of thought that has led to that concise statement; it straightens out a jumble of searching that’s been banging around in your brain, it clarifies some murky feelings clogging up your body, it gives you a clear direction!

I can see your heads bobbing in agreement. We’ve all had our “Aha!” moments while reading or hearing an innocent little teaching, feeling the almost literal lightbulb inside our souls illuminating an old idea that is suddenly new, an idea that finally clicks into its rightful place in our world.

And (surely you aren’t surprised), I have a couple of favorite wise sayings. Well, actually, I have a lot of favorites, but I want to mention three that keep surfacing in my bog of a brain.

“Just do it!”

This has been invaluable advice to me, direct from that wizened old sage, Nike. I’m not sure if this is the Nike of ancient Greek lore or the Nike of the sneaker conglomerate but, whoever said it, it works for me!  And it could not be any more concise, nor any more direct.

In moments of dithering indecision, this beautifully clear directive begins to ring in my head, and it’s never been a bad decision to actually go out there and, well, just do it!  Taking action seems to fortify my reasoning process and there’s a lot to be said for getting things done.

“True victory is victory over oneself.”

This is one of the most famous sayings of Morihei Ueshiba, the Founder of Aikido, the Japanese self-defense art that I teach and practice. Not only does it perfectly embody the whole philosophy of the art, it is a simple and complete expression of my goal of becoming the best person that I can be.

It is a game-changer to realize that you can’t and shouldn’t put your energy into trying to change the other person or the other circumstance or the other anything. Starting with yourself: you have enough to deal with and it’s really your best and only chance to make your life richer and more authentic.

We need to focus our attention on ourselves and not be distracted by what we think others “should” be like or by what we wish our lives “should” be. To honestly see yourself is the first step to possibly changing your life for the better.

“The best time to plant a tree was 20 years ago. The second best time is today.”

This is a brand new one for me, an old Chinese proverb, slipped without any fanfare onto the bottom of an e-mail from my lovely Sally.

Such plain and almost casual advice.

Yet it seems like a complete blueprint for living: the past affects the present, but you cannot worry unnecessarily about the past; the future will arrive in time, but you must plan for it now; the present is where we are and we must act accordingly.

Thank you, Nike. Thank you, Morihei Ueshiba. Thank you, unknown Chinese sage.

You have spoken once, but I keep on hearing you.