"Boxing is a sport, Fighting is an Art, Life is a canvas"

“Boxing is a sport, Fighting is an Art, Life is a canvas”- Gregory G. Hale, December 23^rd 2009.

So one would do wise to learn the art of fighting well, that they should cover their canvas with all that they desire, and thus have fought for.

In retrospect, one may be great at achieving, yet know nothing of the art of fighting. A boxer punches as is required of the sport. A fighter must use their whole body, every muscle, on their feet or on the ground. What is the true “Art of Fighting”? It is something that 12 years of martial arts, two black belts, and living out of a motel room in Detroit on $12 a week taught me. To use everything you know and have, to completely overcome any obstacle. Only a tiger knows the art of fighting, for the tiger is the only animal to use it’s whole body, and every part of it, while attacking.

Thus being said, it is not merely enough to “gain” without “a past of reason”, or a history of determination. The boxer merely punches to achieve, while the fighter does everything, no holds barred, to achieve their victory. Such is the way one should live life. Do all with more than ample reason to do so, and paint the history of your past rich with achievements.

The past year has been filled with change of all types. Change of heart, change of place (mental and physical), change of situations in many different scenarios, and so forth. Yet the years know no reason, only time. Therefore it is our job to place reason into each and every year, and thusly into every action, every word, every thought. The mind must be even with the heart, as we commence the celebration of every year, and in doing so, our minds must therefore be richly cleansed of all un-reasonableness, before we can start this next year with nothing short of the greatest of reasons. Life.

One must learn to accept all that has occurred, before they can experience all that has not yet happened. There should be no questions of “why?”, only moments of acceptance followed either by righteous amounts of joyfulness or equal amounts of mourning. A dear and wise friend of mine, Mr. Mike Forbes, touched on this recently during a conversation regarding this practice. You need to let go of anything that is holding you back before you can truly appreciate what is to come next. There is no holding back, only soulful and emotional cleansing. It is within the process of this cleansing that we must learn to realize and then hold on to the reason for our actions, and that reason being life it’s self. The reason for our actions must be in promoting life, through loving. We must love ourselves, others, neighbors, family members, and loved ones enough as general human beings, so that in each action exercised our love is shared with everyone else, in the hope that they too will continue to give the gift of love, and experience the true meaning of living, “A love filled reason”.

On closing, remember to do this:

"Love. Not to abate ones' fear of death, yet to ensure that life was worth living"

Living right by letting go.

Sometimes we need to let go of that which is holding us down. It can be very hard to let go, especially when you have an emotional attachment.

You must ask yourself, in letting go, will it positively impact you? Will you be better off in the long run, by letting go? We find that most of the time, the answer to this question is "yes", and only due to the fact that we needed to let go, because that which was holding us down was something negative, and therefore not beneficial to us in any way possible.

We need to reevaluate what it is that we call "positive" in our life. One must understand that every meaningful interaction we have, not only with others but with ourselves must thoroughly be grounded in the basic meanings of the word "love". When we hold onto that which holds us back, depresses, saddens, or causes us to feel negative, that there is in fact no love involved. One can not truly say they are loving themselves when they allow such negativity to be present in their life.

There is no love of ones self, nor is there often any love for those around us, as well as those whom we do love, when we do not at first allow ourselves to love "us" from within. One does not truly love when they hold onto a negative, no matter what it may be.

It is upon this understanding and realization about living right, that we must realize the other part to this puzzle. There is no point in living life if you are not going to love everyone around you with at least the most basic love for another human being. One must learn to therefore face anger knowing that anger its self is only an unheard crying out to be loved. Therefore, we must face anger not with equal amounts of anger, but with undivided love, compassion, and attention.

This is never easy to do, nor should it be expected to be, as this requires one to let go of all other emotions and feelings they may have, and be in an "emotionless" state of mind. Let nothing impact your basic love for that person or persons as other humans on this earth, and then proceed forward with an open heart, open ears, and open arms.

"The only emotion worth learning, is to be 'emotionless'. There are times at which in giving nothing, we gain all"- G.H.