Don't go around chasing your dreams...

[JiuJitsuNation]

http://clifffonseca.blogspot.com/2011/09/dont-go-around-chasing-your-dreams.html

[UselessDave]

That's very smart, the idea.

Does the heart control the mind or does the mind control the heart??

Oh, for a long time I've wanted something very much in life... Have I?

[JiuJitsuNation]

I have accomplished many things that I originally had never set out to do. Or did I?

For example this is not to be taken in the sense of did I accomplish things. I did. The real question was did my heart have those goals set all the while. I suppose it's up to the reader to interpret.

I don't believe either CONTROLS the other but rather they influence each other. One more than the other at times.

[JusticeZero]

And I disagree with it top to bottom.

The way you become great is by setting goals and working toward them. If you realize you don't want the target anymore, you've built up enough foundation building toward it that you easily can turn it toward a new goal. No goal and you'll just spin in place. If you decide that you want to build a Care Bear theme park, though? Sure, it might be a bit goofy. But by the time you go "wait, maybe that was a silly idea.." you may have picked up business administration skills, professional contacts, artistic contents, a functional knowledge of real estate, and so on..

if you then go "OK, the Care Bear thing was goofy, maybe I should set up a martial arts school.." then well! You might not have done the training yet, but you might have the skills and connections and resources left over to slam down a big training facility to rent out, and have the skills to promote it into being the biggest martial arts megastudio in the area and be able to find a great teacher to teach you.

"Be great" doesn't give you a goal to triangulate and work toward concretely. Great what? Greatest Minesweeper player? Maker of the meanest bowl of popcorn on the block?

You NEED those targets, those "dreams", so that you can build the smaller goals toward them. Without a target, none of those building blocks are revealed to you, and you won't go anywhere far.

[JiuJitsuNation]

The goals were set and were implied. That goes without saying. Goal setting was not the point of the post.

Edited September 4, 2011 by JiuJitsuNation

[sensei8]

Interesting topic...and a good one, imho.

Throughout my MA journey, many of my thoughts and feelings worked independently without intent.

I thought that 'it' must me great, however, most of the time my feelings towards 'it' was not in agreement with my thought(s). Many times I've never acted upon either because neither of them were really that important to me.

To act upon either of them was not in alignment with what I considered 'it' to be. 'It' wasn't from the code of bushido, as I understand it to be so.

My thoughts might've been birthed from what I'm not, yet, my thoughts wanted 'it' so. Then, my feelings would bring me back to a sense of reality that 'it' is not a part of bushido.

The many things that I've achieved in the MA are things that I've never truly wanted. I just wanted to train with all of my heart and soul, and I still do. The things I've achieved came to me by not my intent and/or actions, but by others who believed that I was always seeking to improve the betterment of the MA for others before myself.

My thoughts and my feelings about things I don't outwardly/inwardly seek are as thin and unsubstantial as the wind. If I'm awarded 'it', my thoughts and my feelings about that are, I try to remain very humble about anything in the MA that I've achieved. In that, I don't allow the praise of others go to my head.

In closing, I've always kept my thoughts and my feelings in an even keel across the board concerning things of the MA; not to control me, for it is I who controls those things. Thoughts and feelings can betray oneself in such a way that's harmful across the board.

It's taken me many years to control my thoughts and feelings so that I don't betray anybody, including myself. When we understand ourselves we make better decisions, have healthier relationships, and can lead more effective and fulfilling lives. Understanding how our thoughts and feelings interact with each other can help us overcome problems with whatever it might and/or might not be.

[bushido_man96]

Very nice.