Dear Parents,

One of my passions in life is learning why some kids thrive while others struggle in life. I am like a sponge, constantly learning and absorbing all the information, knowledge and research out there. But knowledge by itself is only “potential” power. It has to be “applied”, or put into action, for the power to be realized. In essence that is our mission and purpose at Ohana Karate……to pass on this knowledge to the children and parents of the dojo!

Most experts call it the “Science of Success” and the “Art of Fulfillment”.

I have some very good news for you. What I have found is that the same themes or techniques keep coming up time and time again. If you ask most highly successful AND happy people, they will say that both must start with gratitude!

But first, before we address gratitude I want to ask you a very serious question that very few people have answer for themselves. Here it is: What is success for you? What is success for your child? What is happiness for you? What is it for your child?

Isn’t it pretty hard to reach something or a goal when you don’t really know what it is? To some a successful child is one that goes to college. To another it is a child that grows up and gets a good job or career. For others it is marrying and raising a family.

I am going to share with you a success and happiness concept that changed my life when I finally understood and applied it:

Success is a “process” and happiness is a “state”!

Understanding this can be the key to you and your child’s ultimate success and happiness.

Success is not a place you get to or something you get. It is really an on-going process of life but here is what most people need in order to feel successful (and its bigger brother fulfillment) – you need “Growth” and “Contribution”. Think about it, all you need to do is “feel” like you are growing (and being challenged) and contributing to something bigger than yourself. Right now, think of something you feel really good about doing: raising great kids, getting a degree, having great relationships, having a fantastic career. Do these satisfy the feeling and need for growth and contribution? Once you “got” them did that feeling fade and now you need the next level?

Now let’s get to happiness. It is a state. It has little to do with your situation or what you have or don’t have. You will be happy when you have two major feelings in your life most of the time - Gratitude and Passion. Being thankful for everything you have, big and especially the small. Passion is your need for something that drives you, thrills you, and that you think about all the time. This excites you and gets you out of bed in the morning.

So there it is. I am running out of room but next week I will try to give you actual tasks and techniques so you can apply this information. But remember, information is not power…….only applied information is power!

Till next week…….good parenting,

Sensei

Ohana Karate – “Actually we do make Ninjas and Superheroes here………………we turn kids into Ninjas and we turn their parents into their superheroes!”