This week is our second week of summer camp here at the Asian Arts Center, and it’s a hot one. We decided to take our daily hike in the woods this morning to avoid the heat of the afternoon. So we headed to a new park that we hadn’t hiked yet, one with a lot of hills.
One of our campers is a girl named Angela. She has been at the Asian Arts Center for awhile now and has worked her way to 2ndGup; that’s two steps below Black Belt. Angela has some challenges that the other campers don’t have. Of course, we all have our challenges. But she has a lot to teach if you pay attention.
For example; this morning as we were hiking up and down the hills and through the woods, most of the other campers hurried ahead, anxious to be first, chattering about everything except the cool green forest surrounding us. Angela assumed her usual position at the back of the group, taking her time. As I brought up the back of the pack to watch for any stragglers, the rest of the group rushed ahead, out of sight around a bend. Suddenly the woods were quiet. I heard a woodpecker and the gurgle of the creek flowing close by.
I suddenly realized why Angela always dropped back. Well, of course, some of it had to do with her stubborn insistence on setting her own pace. But I also liked to imagine that she had other reasons. My conversation with her was necessarily simple but pleasant.
I thought about my realization at some point in my life that everyone had something to teach me, even if it was their uncluttered view of life. Angela was not complaining unless someone tried to push her along at their pace. She was enjoying the woods in her own way. While the other campers seemed to be in a hurry to get somewhere, anywhere other than the place they were, Angela was mindful and taking her time; being where she was.
Taekwondo, and Angela, have taught me to be where I am, to have “Choshim”, a “beginners mind”. To never think that anyone is not smart enough, or successful enough, or wise enough, or old enough to teach me, even if it is done just by watching. There is always a lesson. Sometimes I have to drop back from the noisy crowd, pushing ahead, striving for whatever lies ahead.
Sometimes the lesson is to just enjoy being in the cool, shady woods.
Dennis Schaefer is an Instructor at the Asian Arts Center Taekwondo School in Dayton, Ohio. www.aacdayton.com