What a Great Kid
Something happened this morning that made me think.
We were out late at a community theater production last night so I let everybody sleep in. When I woke them up, late, I told them they had to hustle to get to church on time.
A certain young man was not very cooperative. He dawdled, poked around playing chess, reading his Kindle, took a relaxing bath… I got on his case pretty hard.
After things were calmed down and he was finally moving well under the impetus of Dad-Power, the Lovely One told him what an exceptional young man he was, how few young men went to Church each Sunday, were worthy to prepare the Sacrament.
She was right and I told him so.
Now, this would be the point in the typical LDS talk where I would say my wife had a better perspective than I did.
But you know me better than that, my poppets.
My wife and I were both fully right.
It is a bad mistake to think you are doing well just because you are doing better than almost anyone else. Measure the climb by the mountain ahead, not by the people on the path behind.
But it is also a bad mistake to not recognize the good you are and the good you are doing.
E. C.
April 26, 2026
Indeed, and I had much the same experience yesterday with one of my karate students, from the opposite side.
I’m in a situation: our Sensei is too old and too ill to continue teaching, so yesterday I and my brother proctored a belt exam. (It was weird to be on the other side, especially since some of the people we were testing were at a higher rank than us)
One of the students returned to get her black belt only a few months ago; I felt that she had the ability, and kept my reservations on her motives to myself.
Well, considering the huge amount of things she had to learn in such a short amount of time, she did remarkably well. But she was being pretty hard on herself after the test for not getting everything absolutely perfect.
However, a Shodan (first degree) belt is a mark of beginning the martial way, not a mark of mastery. She needs to understand that the drive to improve is a good thing, but that she should also celebrate her accomplishment.
The test is grueling for black belt candidates – six hours to test physical endurance, mental fortitude, mastery of technique and the ‘art’ side of martial arts, and the ability to fight under stress. There’s also a written test, though that should be completed beforehand. I don’t want any candidates’ attitude to be too arrogant, but enduring everything we throw at them is a feat, and shouldn’t be downplayed!
Still, the fact that she came back to class just a few months before the test also tells me something, and I’ll be watching her the next few months in class to see what kind of attitude she displays. If she’s seeking mastery, great. If she’s there for the outward displays of that mastery, well, we might have a problem. As I (and my brother) are Sensei(s) now, we want to make sure we’re cultivating the correct attitudes in ourselves and our students, so that we don’t lead our dojo down any wrong paths, philosophically speaking.