More or Less

Apologies to my non-American readers.  The coins above represent two of the most common in circulation: on the left is a nickel (5 cents).  On the right is a dime (10 cents).  The point being made is simple - the smaller coin is worth double that of the larger coin.

We are often taught to believe more is better: more money, more power, more food, more friends.  There is pressure from mainstream media to think we don't have enough - that we can never have enough.  This is usually not the case.

With some few exceptions - compassion, kindness, martial arts training (hint, hint) - to name a few, more is not better.  In many cases, LESS is better.

In a very interesting study, dietitians examined why the problem of obesity was so rampant in America, while the French diet was loaded with butter, sugar and foie gras but resulted in far less statistical obesity.  The answer?  Portion sizes.  Despite a diet of much richer food, French people typically consumed far fewer calories on average than their American peers.  Quality definitely won over quantity.

In this modern age of social media, we are thought to be "successful" if we have many friends on LinkedIn or Facebook; if we have lots of followers/views on Instagram or Snapchat or Youtube or TikTok or whatever.  Many of those people we have never even met, and it would be a big overstatement to refer to them as "friends" or "followers".

Regardless of how long we have known someone, if he or she is not there in our time of need, or doesn't truly have our best interests in mind and hopes for our success, they cannot be relied upon as a friend.   I am not advocating cutting off everyone who has not proven their loyalty (although that's also not a bad idea).  I am, however, suggesting that we always be prudent in recognizing that not everyone we engage with is our friend, and not everyone we have known for a long time (classmate, same neighborhood, long-term work colleague, etc.) wishes us success, even if we wish it for them ourselves.  Remember the first rule of boxing, "protect yourself at all times".

Even in the martial arts world, there is a danger in wanting to know too many techniques, too many variations.  This always comes at a risk of getting confused or of not knowing what to do or how the techniques fit together.  Repetition, not variety, builds fluency and muscle memory.  Bruce Lee famously quipped, "Fear not the man who knows 10,000 kicks.  Fear the man who has one one kick 10,000 times."

Let go of the illusion that more is always better.  Seek only the truth of everything and everyone and "rightsize" constantly.  Be grateful for what you have and use it fully.

Train hard.