Empathy

For my first degree black belt test, I went mute for a day.  It was one of the most difficult things I had ever done.  It really shows how we take basic abilities for granted every day.   This year, I decided to do blindness for my empathy training.  It was a lot different than being mute.  The hardest part about being mute is communicating.  It was difficult to explain ideas and to respond to other people's questions.  However, when you are blind, you can communicate.  The difficulty with being blind is in doing daily tasks.  One of the things I did was washing dishes.  It was very hard trying to make sure that each dish was scrubbed and that they made it into the drying rack.  I realized that others can help me, though.  My sister was able to tell me if I missed something, or whether it was in the right place or not.  This shows that as a black belt, we must understand that some people live with this every day.  We  should help those who need it; not only those with disabilities, but anyone who needs help in general.  It is important that we always try give back to the community, and to do it with a positive attitude.