Find the obvious. This has been my mode of operation for some time now. At one time I was hesitant with doing so. Someone would have difficulty with a technique. To me it was “obvious” they were stepping with the wrong foot or using the wrong part of their arm. I would let them struggle a bit as most people eventually learn to make corrections themselves. When the answers didn’t come, I would say try stepping with the other foot…. magic. The technique worked. As this occurred more and more, I realized the obvious reaĺly wasn’t so obvious.
Sure making the correction was obvious to me. I have made that mistake many, many times over my 50 plus years of training. To someone new on the path things aren’t so obvious. They would ask ” how are you able to do these things so easily?” Easily?!? Do you understand how many times I have messed up!!? I had to do that move over and over and over again to get it. No. No they don’t understand. They only see you in the here and now. They see themselves now. It is hard, now.
Stating the obvious has become my norm. The more it is done, the more I have come to realize what is obvious to some is not to others. Sure, sometimes it sounds “smart aleck”. I must admit I am learning to how to deliver the one liners in a way to not offend. When we are able to laugh and have fun, we learn more. Being able to laugh at our mistakes helps us move forward by being able to look at what is causing us trouble and not be scared of or angry with it.
We have even come up with disarming ways of delivering the corrections. One method is to say “what I’m about to say is obvious… step with the other foot”. Taicho akiraka. (Captain obvious in Japanese I think…) Another way is to do a caricature of the movement someone does. I make their “mistake” so obvious, they can see what it is. We all get a chuckle. We all learn. As soon as I do the caricature, everyone starts looking at their own movement, wondering if they too look as “silly” as I just did.
Why couldn’t we see it? Why don’t we see what is so obvious? This is how we are. We have a hard time seeing the forest for the trees in the way. Or the elephant in the room. Our problems are so big, we just learn to ignore them. Perhaps we ignore them because they are so big we don’t know how to solve them. Hmmm… taicho akiraka. Eat the elephant one bite at a time.
Take the time to state the obvious. Over time, doing so becomes less and less offensive. Doing anything more makes it easier to do (taicho akiraka). Our lives become less stressful. We learn to look at big or difficult situations and see the best direction to get out of them. We welcome more difficulties not because we want to torture ourselves. We welcome them because they don’t bother us. Our peace is not moved because we know this to will pass.
Go find your obvious.