At some point in IHC discussions there has been discussion about how comparing what you can, or cannot, do now to what you could in the past was an ego thing. I’ve given this a great deal of thought and I just can’t agree with that, at least not in every case. Not because it bruises my ego. That’s not it. It just doesn’t sit right with me.
I finally figured out what it was that didn’t sit right with me when the word “gauge” came to mind. One of the meanings of the word “gauge” is, a measure of capacity of something.
The problem is, the only gauge I have of my physical capacity is what I was able to do in the past. I know it’s not reasonable to expect to be able to do at this age what I was able to do in my twenties and thirties. It’s just the only gauge I have of my capacity. I’m building a new gauge now, but that’s the thing, it’s being built, or rather re-tuned, and I have no idea what the result well be. I can only go by what I have personally experienced. That is all I have. Sure, I could compare myself to others but how well would that work? I am not them and they are not me. Sure, there are others that are my age or older that might be similar. In Kung Fu most of them seem to be black belts already, so using them as a gauge for my progress would likely be a lesson in frustration. Sure, there is wisdom to be gained from these people, and people of any age and accomplishment for that matter, but in the end, I can only work on myself, with the body I was given, no one else can do it for me, and gauge myself by my more recent accomplishments, thereby re-tuning my personal gauge.
Guess this is another way to be en-gauged :-D
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