Sweep The Heart

Pat Morita's iconic Karate Kid movie character Mr. Miyagi once said, ~Never put passion in front of principle, even you win, you'll lose~ If you think about it, when it comes to matters of the heart it can feel like you've entered yourself into the dating scene version of the All Valley Karate Tournament where the top winning prize is a trophy representing a strong, worthwhile relationship. A trophy that can put a tremendous amount of pressure and have a mercy is for the weak mindset to the point where one has a choice of either going with either a defense only mentality of Miyagi-Do or a strike hard and first, show no mercy attitude of Cobra Kai. For it can most definitely be an incredibly tough and not to mention intimidating situation indeed to stay calm, as well as keep a balanced focus on one's own Miyagi like principles when preparing for then facing THE toughest opponent you'll end up squaring off against...love/true love.

Without a doubt, each one of us who are living the single are in a way going through our own individual "training" of sorts and figuring out what techniques that either work or don't work while being encouraged/advised by our best buds/gal pals who are, as a whole, a representation of Mr. Miyagi and not John Kreese. Granted, they may not actually teach you the ways of "wax on wax off", "paint the fence," and "sand the floor" its their own unique ways of giving encouraging advice that even though don't always work, there are times when it does leaving you to truly be surprisingly shocked in more ways than one. Thinking about it further, it's that surprising shock that can certainly feel like executing a crane kick to the face of Johnny Lawrence after going through an emotionally, mentally, and possibly even physically painful turmoil to get to that pivotal moment involving a guy/girl in question you're standing across from.

As I said before, it can most definitely be an incredibly tough and not to mention intimidating situation indeed to stay calm, as well as keep a balanced focus on one's own Miyagi like principles when preparing for then facing the THE toughest opponent you'll end up squaring off against...love/true love. Oftentimes, a change in scenery is in order to find a seemingly Okinawa like peaceful Zen only to face and weather a storm of unbalance within your own heart. A unbalanced storm of destruction of doubt, fear, hatred, worry, anxiety, bitterness, confusion, frustration, disappointment, etc. whereby leaving you with the task of breaking a potentially immovable and quite possibly overwhelming obstacle set in your path. Yet, it can be done by simply listening to the beat of your own drum and having the determination to face an all out Chozen style death match within yourself, so to speak.

Let me ask this question to those who have seen Karate Kid Part 3, did you think the main antagonist Terry Silver played his role well in being deceptive with his true intentions for Daniel? The answer is a definite yes and I think it's safe to say you have to be careful in encountering a guy/girl who'll lead you down a much different training path, in a manner of speaking, in which focusing on passion rather than principle is deemed far more important. Essentially, the mistake of focusing more on the passion instead of the principles that have been considered valuable teaching tools has the propensity to leave you physically battered, emotionally bruised, and/or mentally lost in a literal/figurative sense. Of course, it's never too late to go back with utmost humility in order to train with your sensei knowing how the goal of winning completely blinded you to nearly losing everything in the process you ever stood for.

In retrospect, every person wants to experience true happiness that's similar to that tea ceremony in Karate Kid 2 where there's a timeless elegance and gracefulness in what Kumiko is preparing for Daniel. For the most part, to have that same timeless elegance and gracefulness with a forever best friend is something we all in a sense want to find ourselves preparing for each other while embracing together the beauty of shared silence. Unfortunately, experiencing the chaotic side of a Mike Barnes barrage of raging insults towards a fallen Daniel is what those whose hearts are laying on the mat paralyzed with fear have been dealing with for quite some time. Ultimately, what it comes down to is having the courage to pick your own heart off the mat and having the determination to face what scares you the most. In the end, to those who still hope to reach that moment I hope you finally experience your sweep the heart moment of true happiness.