In conversation with ESPN Get Up host Mike Greenberg, the late Kobe Bryant said regarding the on-going NBA GOAT (Greatest of All-Time) discussion surrounding Michael Jordan, LeBron James, and himself:
I really don’t care. Like, I’ve moved on… I’m focused on the next 20 years.
Whether Kobe had a problem with those, who didn’t possess his work ethic, he replied, “No, I don’t. I have a problem with people, who expect to be great, but don’t put in the work.” Amen.
Kobe worked harder than anyone on Planet Earth inventing the greater-than versions of himself. Throughout his illustrious 20-year Hall of Fame, NBA Championship career, he left it all on the court. Kobe didn’t care about being the GOAT. He was the greatest that he could be. When Kobe completed his NBA career, he looked at what’s next. He moved on.
Kobe’s next was winning the Academy Award for the animated short film Dear Basketball and writing a series of children’s books. On January 26, 2020, Kobe tragically passed away along with his 13-year-old daughter Gianna, and seven others in a helicopter crash in Calabasas, CA. He wouldn’t complete his next. Rest in Peace, Kobe.
I’ve trained in Aikido for over 30 years. The late Mizukami Sensei taught me for over 25 of those years. I invented my greater-than versions as a martial artist, as a man. Sensei said, “Just train. It’s not like you have to get somewhere.” I put in the work. I ground it out.
Now, Ishibashi Sensei teaches me. Mizukami Sensei taught both of us. We perpetuate Sensei’s legacy: Take a glancing blow, if you have to. It’s one time. Mizukami Sensei wasn’t the Aikido GOAT. Yet, he was our GOAT Sensei. I have more fun in Aikido than I have in many years, training with Ishibashi Sensei. We learn the new old ways. We reinvent our Aikido. We reinvent ourselves, too. Mizukami Sensei instilled within us to keep learning, to keep expanding. Just train. Aikido isn’t about personal greatness, about being the GOAT. Sensei dedicated his life to service, to guide others in inventing their own greater-than versions, the versions that they didn’t yet see.
I’m well beyond middle-age. I haven’t attained the textbook greatness metrics. I’m not the Program Manager at work. I’m not the bestselling author. I’m not a father. That being said, I’m proud of my life. In perpetuating Mizukami Sensei’s legacy, I pass on all that he bestowed upon me. I’ve trained dozens of black belts like Adam, Jerry, and Bryan. They’re all good men. I pass on 30 years of System Engineering acumen and experience to the next generation of engineers like Lieutenant Jon and Trevor. With my Editor Lisa Blacker, I write about loving and forgiving thine own self on The Good Men Project. Perhaps, the world shines a little brighter in what we write.
I appreciate what I’ve done, and what’s left undone. In that bigger picture, I leave it all on the Aikido mat. I continually work on my greater-than versions. Life isn’t about what was. Life is the possibility of what’s next, the possibility of moving on.
I move on, acknowledging where I started, from my zero. I was the 8-year-old boy so scared of Dad, who was never ever going to be good enough. Yet, I evolved. I just trained. I moved on.
I’m grateful to those, who contributed on my journey. Cheryl Hunter taught me the Japanese aesthetic wabi-sabi: There’s beauty in our imperfection. Cheryl said, “Life is imperfectly perfect.” The late Mizukami Sensei taught me Aikido and what it is to be a good man. I worked with my therapist Lance in looking at my childhood trauma and depression, as learned to I heal and forgive myself. My late Mom taught me that kindness and gentleness authentically define a man.
Sensei said, “Just train.” It’s not like I have to get somewhere. I work to become the better person, the greater man. I grind it out. I make it work. Nothing, but mad love and respect to Sensei, Mom, Lance, and Cheryl.
In the bigger picture, I accept who I am, and who I’m not. I love and forgive mine own self. Others shall inevitably define my legacy, not me. So, I move on to what’s next. Just saying.
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