The Martial Art of Holding Two Thoughts at Once

The karateka walks a line between life and death, but must embrace both, says Dr. Gary S. Goodman, noted sales, service, and success consultant, and author of the popular audio program, "The Law of Large Numbers How To Make Success Inevitable," published by Nightingale-Conant.

Gichin Funakoshi, the father of modern karate, said patience must come before battle. Only after we have gone beyond the limits of quiet endurance should we take our swords from their scabbards. Peace is the highest objective, though honor, justice and other values cannot be subordinated to it. Funakoshi might say discipline, keeping competing motivations in their proper places, comes above all. Like quicksilver, the space between life and death is fluid and fickle. There?s life, death, and, frighteningly little in between.

Being able to walk that thin line between daylight and shadows, between right and wrong, is the art of the karateka.

Before you think this is too rare a predicament, consider cops and soldiers, whose waking moments are the same.

Most ordinary people dwell in the world of the living and stay as far away from its alternative as they can.

But warriors have no choice. The karateka walks a line between life and death, but must embrace both

They must be alive and dead with no discernable attachment to either. To accomplish this state, they have to be able to hold two thoughts at once:

To be right and wrong;

To be here and gone; and

To be important and unimportant.

It?s not what you?d call good work, if you can get it.

This duty finds you.

Dr. Gary S. Goodman, President of Customersatisfaction.com, is a popular keynote speaker, management consultant, and seminar leader and the best-selling author of 12 books, including Reach Out & Sell Someone? and Monitoring, Measuring & Managing Customer Service, and the audio program, ?The Law of Large Numbers: How To Make Success Inevitable,? published by Nightingale-Conant. He is a frequent guest on radio and television, worldwide. A Ph.D. from USC''s Annenberg School, a Loyola lawyer, and an MBA from the Peter F. Drucker School at Claremont Graduate University, Gary offers programs through UCLA Extension and numerous universities, trade associations, and other organizations from Santa Monica to South Africa. He holds the rank of Shodan, 1st Degree Black Belt in Kenpo Karate. He is headquartered in Glendale, California, and he can be reached at [phone] or at: [e-mail]. For information about coaching, consulting, training, books, videos and audios, please go to =>http://www.customersatisfaction.com