Aikido

  When you reach adolescence, you tend to start asking the important questions. Who am I? Who do I want to be? What you don't realize is that there's a line wrapped around the globe waiting to tell you or sell you the answer. This is especially true for those who question the answers they are given. Economies are driven by this. It is our way of life. There will always be protocol.

  Does this provoke your pride? Are you feeling indignant? Do you feel you have the answers? Are you the exception to the rule? You may have a career in marketing! At best, your role is reinforcement.

  Clearly, I have pushed this meditation on self-determination to the point of despair. My voice so far has been that of an agitator whose sole purpose has been to create opposition. Your perception naturally resists. You find that perception is all there is and it is under your control. Remove the resistance. All the answers and those who claim to have them base their existence on this resistance. All of this force built by tension simply ceases to exist. The meaning is lost but you remain.

  Most people will always push back. Life might force them to give in when the going gets rough. Rather than learn from this, they will engage their world over and over again. If you can only recognize the tension and release your grip, the so-called weight of the world will do itself in. There is no world. Only you.

  This is an exercise in aikido. Its core concept is redirecting the force of an opponent's attack rather than taking it head-on.