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Human perception is a fascinating thing which wields a very powerful force in our lives. While it is within our ability to consciously alter our perceptions, it is almost impossible for us to achieve anything which spans beyond them. Until the first human imagined running a mile in four minutes, no one before had perceived it as a possible reality. Today, running a four minute mile is perceived as a relatively commonplace feat among athletes. Whatever we believe truly does become real for us, regardless of its basis in fact or its "realness" to anyone else. When one person imagines a possibility, perceives that it can become a reality and applies their actions to creating that reality, it may even become real for everyone else - just as the four minute mile did.
The interesting thing about the power of perception is that just as it can enhance our ability to accomplish positive things, it can also hinder our ability to accomplish even simple things. Extreme fears and phobias offer vivid examples of the negative effects which occur when a person becomes unable to overcome their exaggerated perception of a potential danger. One person may fear heights because they focus on the possibility of falling, another may fear flying because they focus on the possibility of the plane crashing, still another may have an extreme fear of spiders or bugs. For people who become trapped by perspectives which they are unable to change, many opportunities in life are not available.
Each of our lives can be hampered or enhanced by our perspectives. In effect we have the ability to largely create the reality in which we live our life. If we wake up in the morning and say, "I feel awful, today is going to be terrible," then reality will usually provide us with what we imagined. However, if we start our day with a more positive, "I feel great ! Today is going to be excellent!" then reality is just as likely to furnish us with such a day. After all, each of us is the final judge of our experiences and however we choose to interpret them as they occur determines our version of reality - regardless of how another may perceive the same experiences. One person might perceive wrecking their car as a terrible event, while another might perceive the same wreck as an opportunity to get a new vehicle. Either interpretation of the event becomes reality for the person who believes it.
"Each of our lives can be hampered or enhanced by our perspectives. In effect we have the ability to largely create the reality in which we live our life."
In 1945 an unknown martial artist imagined opening a studio in the struggling country of Korea which had just been freed from years of Japanese occupation. I can almost hear his friends telling him that his idea is foolish. "The people of Korea are poor and nearly starving as they struggle to reorganize. People are living dozens to a home and struggling just to find food and shelter to survive, they will not have any desire to practice martial arts. How can you possibly think people will place any value or priority on studying martial arts with you when they face so many other challenges which are far more important to their survival? Besides, you are not well known and people do not know about martial arts. What do you have to offer them? They will never support you."
As this martial artist struggled to make his imagined idea into a reality, conditions in the country became even worse when the Korean war began in 1950. Now, what possible chance could he have for success in a war torn country where survival was the only daily priority for all? None it would seem, yet within seven years this imaginative martial artist's school had become the most successful, well known and respected in the entire country. He had simply refused to allow other people's perception of reality to affect his. He refused to let his dream be tarnished, even though no one else could perceive the reality he imagined. Today, we all know Kwan Jang Nim' Hwang Kee's imaginary dream and his perception of what could become reality have become as real as the four minute mile. Imagine That!
In 1992 Kyo Sa Jean Duncan walked into a convalescent home and offered instruction in Moo Pal Dan Khum breathing exercises to the elderly residents there. Where others only saw old people confined to wheel chairs and walkers, this instructor imagined student practitioners improving themselves and their health. People told her she should not expect much energy from the residents as they were never very cooperative with the staff. Some told her these people did not want to be active, they were just waiting for their time to pass. Besides she had no specialized training for working with elderly people and should not expect much. She refused to allow other people's perceptions to tarnish her imagination of the reality she had imagined and within two years her Golden Years Soo Bahk Do program had gained so much popularity and success among residents and their families that it had been featured on national and international television three times and in numerous national magazines. Brian Risinger, a ninety five year old student of hers, who had never been outside his home state of Texas, was joined by a fellow student who celebrated his eightieth birthday in the 1st class cabin of a plane 40,000 feet in the air on their trip to California, where they both participated in the 1994 National Championships and were later featured on CNN worldwide. Imagine that!
In 1989 an instructor who had operated a studio in his home town for many years relocated and turned ownership of his studio over to a lower rank Dan member. During the past, this instructor had tried different locations, advertisements, school programs, YMCA programs, and every conceivable discount tuition program, but regardless of his efforts his studio's enrollment always remained at about 15 to 25 students. Many competing studios had come and gone in his town and although his studio had always struggled financially, he had always outlasted his competitors through sheer determination.
The junior Dan was excited by the new opportunity and unhampered by the previous instructor's perception of reality which had come to rule the studio's success. The junior Dan imagined a larger, more successful studio filled with eager, capable students and within three months, enrollment was at 51 students and growing. The new instructor had even increased the tuition fee being charged, but money was obviously not as important to the students as the strong belief the new instructor had in them and the motivation and excitement which was inspired in them. Modeling Kwan Jang Nim Hwang Kee's example of using a scientific basis for his martial art, this new instructor applied modern scientific and psychological principles to the teaching methods used in class. The instructor consistently encouraged students to succeed and accomplish whatever they could imagine rather than critiquing them until they could no longer imagine, or even see their dream. The instructor was teaching them to believe in their dreams and showing them how to achieve them. Students were learning that if they could imagine it, they could achieve it. When the original instructor learned of the unheard of success at the studio he was astounded. He had never imagined a studio in his small town could have over 50 students ...... but this Dan member had. Imagine that!
Recently an instructor told me how he was being forced to close his studio because it was not financially viable. Further inquiry revealed that he had an excellent retail location with a very reasonable overhead and only one competitor several miles away. His student enrollment had been at 35 for about a year, but needed to be at 50 in order for the studio to cover all its operating costs. I suggested that if he was unable to increase enrollment, perhaps he could consider adjusting his tuition to cover his operating costs before closing his studio. He immediately said he could not do that because people would not pay any more. His perception was his firm reality, but I learned that it was a flawed perspective when I called his competitor and learned that they were charging more than double his tuition fee and their studio was thriving.
By refusing to reexamine his perspective, he eliminated a number of possibilities from his future and eliminated the opportunity for access to Soo Bahk Do training for 35 eager students. Several of them contacted Headquarters after his studio was closed and I learned that they would have gladly paid more tuition to continue receiving instruction from this excellent instructor, but he never gave them the opportunity to support the studio and him by explaining how they could do so through their tuition. Instead, of simply presenting the opportunity to them and allowing them to make the decision, he made the decision for them when it was not really his place to do so. His flawed perception and lack of belief in his students had contributed to his studio's demise more than the factors he perceived. After all, the worst case scenario would have been that he initiated the needed changes and insufficient financial improvement might have occurred. His studio may still have closed, but at least he would have explored another option before retreating in the battle to save his studio. Analyzing what transpired at a later date, made it apparent that factors other than those which he perceived, had contributed the most to the demise of his studio. Imagine that!
Our personal reality is a very malleable thing which we can easily alter by the perspectives and beliefs which we choose to adopt. As soon as we say, "I can't" it becomes reality for us. As soon as we say "I can" it becomes reality for us. Many times, those things which we perceive as impossible, may only be things which we cannot yet imagine. The next person may imagine and achieve what we declared to be an impossible feat. The earth is populated with both kinds of people and we can be either type we choose. We can be one making declarations of impossibility because we are unwilling to reexamine our perspectives or excercise our imagination, or we can be one who is willing to perceive alternate realities and possibly enjoy the enormous rewards which might come with giving such "unbelievable" thoughts the hospitality of our imagination. Imagine that!
In 1982 when the KSC Memorial Association joined the Federation, we brought six studios of students into the home which Kwan Jang Nim had provided for lost and wandering Moo Duk Kwan practitioners like us. Each instructor believed very strongly in our connection to the Moo Duk Kwan and we were excited and happy to learn that the founder of our beloved art was available to us. Each instructor immediately distributed Federation membership applications to all their students and educated them of the value which membership would bring to them in technical training and "connection" to other Moo Duk Kwan practitioners across the U.S. In only a matter of days, every student or parent in all six studios had remitted the membership fee without any objections reported by instructors.
As we all awaited the arrival of our Federation ID cards, there was excitement and eager anticipation in every heart as we imagined the future rewards which Federation membership would bring us. In fact, students and parents were as excited as all the instructors about the "connection" the Federation offered to our Moo Duk Kwan roots and the many exciting new opportunities Federation membership would provide for us. As instructors, our perception of reality became our student's reality. What we believed to be valuable and worthwhile, they believed also. Today, time has shown that what we believed in 1982 became real for all of us. Imagine that!
Phil Duncan
"Impossibility Is Only The Figment of An Insufficient Imagination"
