When I was so very scared as a young boy, Mom said, “Jonny, slow down.” Dad was very angry about something that I did or didn’t do. Maybe I forgot to lock the kitchen door. Maybe we were running late for a family party. It was something. Then again, it might have been nothing at all.
In the bigger picture, Mom reminded me to calm my soul, to slow myself down. Although, being 10 years old, her sublime reminder escaped me. Her enduring unconditional love flew over me. Instead, what Mom said often angered me. I would yell back, “I know!” Yeah, I was young and stupid. Looking back, I should have known better. Mom always had my back. Always. Mom has since passed away. Still, I get that she has my back.
When I fear inside, I hear Mom say, “Slow down, Jonny.” I pause. Take a deep breath. Slow down. I hear the late Mizukami Sensei say, “Wait it out. Take a glancing blow, if you have to.” When life comes at full force, the safest place to be is under the attack, be under what I fear. Then, I do what I need to.
In Aikido, Mizukami Sensei instructed: Wait out the attack, slow it down, match up with the attack. Regardless of how fast or how strong the attack, I count, “One. Two.” I throw the attacker to the Aikido mat. It’s one time. Regardless of how fast or how strong the attack, I slow it down. Be present in the moment of the attack. Do my best.
5-time NBA Champion, the late Kobe Bryant, and four-time NBA Champion LeBron James routinely describe slowing the game down in the last minute of their Playoff games to make the winning shot. seven-time Super Bowl Champion Quarterback Tom Brady regularly recounts slowing the game down, when it’s fourth down and long yardage to go with 30 seconds remaining on the clock. Tom drops back to pass. He looks for the open wide receiver to throw the winning touchdown pass.
Amidst the swirling chaos, Kobe, Lebron, and Tom slow the game down. They slow themselves down. They’re present in the moment. They wait it out. They let the game come to them. They do their best. No, they don’t always win. Yet, they give their best shot. In the bigger picture, that makes a difference. Just saying.
Kobe, Lebron, and Tom viscerally embody slowing it down as a pivotal foundation in mastery. The game moves fast, much like life. Amidst life’s torrential currents, I slow it down. I slow myself down.
I release the past to be present in the moment. I reinvent myself from my new zero, from my new starting point. I slow down: Let life come in, match up, and make it work. I practice that over, and over, and over again. Repetition, too, is mastery. What I got from the late Mizukami Sensei.
I slow down. I slow myself down. I have nothing to prove. I don’t have to get somewhere. I’m the best version of myself. What happens, happens. I reconcile in the aftermath.
In my own trials and tribulations, I get under what I fear. Don’t run from it. I’m uncomfortable with what’s meaningful to me. The wise French Aikido Sensei said, “Enter the attack and die with honor.” Slow down. Enter what I fear. I’m the best version of myself. Whether that’s the 250-pound man coming to punch me out, that I’m late for the critical Zoom meeting, or that I want to ask the woman I like so much if she would like to get some sushi, I slow down. Take a deep breath. Do my best. To mine own self be true. And let the chips fall where they may.
Sometimes, life can certainly move so very fast. Life can and will get scary, too. As life occurs, I slow down. I let it come to me. I’m the best version of me. That’s what we all can do. Just saying.
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