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Dr Reese is a Shodan presently stationed /training in Sicily. He has 2 Doctorates in (Philosophy and D.O.)and is a" Board Certified " Emergency Medical Physician.

We miss him and we are sure he is sharing his good humor and warmth with some very grateful patients....

A Virtue

We fail, repeatedly.  We fall, regularly. We misperceive that which is, daily. To think otherwise is

foolhardy; such is the nature of being human.

After failure, why then do we not quit?

When we fall, why do we not remain fallen?

If we misperceive, why then do we not continue to labor under our illusions?

Perhaps some virtue, some essential quality of mankind, gives us strength to continue.

Perseverance is a 14th century Middle English word derived from the Latin word “perseverare”.

The prefix “per” informs us that we should go ‘through’. The root word “severare” is taken

from the Latin “severus”, which suggests conditions that are ‘severe’.

Thus ‘to go through severity’ is to ‘persevere’.

Perseverance is an essential quality of mankind. When utilized, this great resource encourages

self-mastery and the refinement of spirit.

But like all qualities it can either be exercised and strengthened for the purpose of

psychological health, or ignored and disregarded,

eventually falling into disrepair and uselessness.

Perfection is not our natural state, you and I, although we deeply wish it were so.

When faced with the sobering reality of our imperfections, the nature of humanity

is to reflexively limit such painful insights,

much as the eye blinks to shield itself when struck by the wind. So too do we often reflexively create

convenient mental fictions and distortions to ease the discomfort associated with knowledge of our

imperfections.These distortions are automatic and insidious, but altogether natural to us all.

They exist because they serve the short term function

of preserving our integrity and confidence, but when unchecked become destructive and ruinous.

The fish does not see the water in which it swims. So too do we, human beings,

operate daily on tacit assumptions and on automatic thoughts that we do not question.

What then can we do to see more clearly and be freed from our misperceptions?  How may we face the unhappy reality

that failure is implicit in the act of living, and that we all must fall, physically and metaphorically,

as a condition of our existence?

We must persevere. We must practice daily the act of enduring despite difficulty.  No skill worth possessing,

no goal worth achieving,

no relationship worth sustaining has ever been achieved without frequent failure, falling and temporary misperception.

Such is the nature of being human.  Imperfection is a condition of living.

The martial arts are an easily accessible method to refine the virtue of perseverance.  When in the dojo we fail,

repeatedly. While training we fall, frequently.  While observing the Sensei we misperceive, regularly,

the true nature of the techniques.

Ask this of yourself: why then do we continue?

Dr. Reese Nicolini