Positive VS Negative

Many years ago, there were two young students named Icho and Hayo. They both began their martial arts training at a very young age. For the first several years, their training paralleled both in talent and skill level. At a certain point, Hayo began to fall behind. At first it was very subtle, but as time went on it became more and more obvious. While Icho continued to do well, Hayo was becoming frustrated with himself and as a result was falling even farther behind.

Their Master finally approached Icho and asked him why he felt that Hayo was no longer progressing in his training. Icho replied, “I have noticed that he gets very down on himself. He believes that the other people training here do not respect him and do not believe he has the skills he should.”

The Master quickly realized what the problem was. He waited until the day was over and asked Hayo to sit with him for awhile. He asked Hayo if he believed that other people looked at him in a negative way. Hayo said that he did. The Master then asked him very pointedly if over time that had caused him to start thinking less of himself. “The problem,” the Master said, “is that you have stopped believing in yourself.”

What happens when you allow what others think, or simply what you believe others think to impede your success is detrimental to both your training and your life. Icho never stopped believing that he was talented and hard-working; therefore he never stopped believing that was how others viewed him. Somewhere along the line Hayo ceased to believe that. It was at this exact point that they started to drift apart in their training. When Hayo realized that others still respected him, he began to improve his view of himself. From that day forward, he joined Icho in becoming a great Master and teaching many students the lesson he learned when he was young.