Struggling?

Hello this is Master Mikel
Steenrod with Water Mountain.

The topic I want to address to
day is struggle.

Let’s start with our takeaway

right off the bat:

it’s ok to

struggle.

Let’s repeat that again.

Simple message,

it’s ok to struggle.

Now, why is that important?

Many people, when they encounter
difficulty, feel a sense that

they’re doing something
incorrectly,

that if they were doing it
correctly,

it would proceed

without

any effort. They would not
experience any failure.

Well,

that’s just incorrect.

When you

face something that’s challenging,

you will, in fact, struggle
because you’re applying action

to challenge.

Action to

challenge.

Those two things together means
that you must engage some form of

striving, some form

of struggle

in your work to achieve your end.

So when you are struggling, you
are actually working against

something that is challenging.

It is a positive sign.

Through struggle we grow. Through
ease…

we do not.

And we gain very little by having
a life of ease, although it is

something that

we are conditioned to prefer.

When you are on the martial or
the qi gong path, you have chosen

to pursue a life that contains
struggle within it.

You have chosen to apply yourself to
challenge.

You have chosen to generate action

and put it up against challenge,
which means you’re going to struggle.

So when you’re struggling, what
are you doing? You’re applying

yourself to something that will
develop you, cause you to grow.

That’s not a bad thing.

That’s not something to be
ashamed of.

That’s something that you want to
do.

Remember, believe in yourself.

Spend some time developing.
Thank you.