Limitations or Free as a Bird

There comes a time when you come up against a wall that you surely cannot climb no matter how many times you try, or how many times you reinvent yourself or redefine the situation. The wall is there and it defines who you are. To be fully aware of your limitations is crucial in the martial arts because it creates the space you must perforce inhabit. It is where you have to make do. For example, I can attempt to push the envelope and probably injure myself seriously or make do with what I have. I can waste my life trying to master the improbable, or perfect the possible.

This is not so for all people. There are those whose striving and dedication help them surpass all barriers of learning and skill. For those, where there is a will there’s a way. But there are those, like myself, who must face ever looming obstacles, some surmountable with effort, others that it would be sheer lunacy to even try. There are things that I used to be able to do that I just simply cannot do now. There are things that I could never do, no matter the tears and sweat expended.

And yet, there are things that I can do. So I do them, humbly.

As I grow older, I humbly assume my outer limitations, also my inner ones. By necessity, my inner space expands to fill the voids of my outer world. There, no limitations exist, things and thoughts run wild and free.