Busy and Responsible
When we look at these two words they seem to be pretty much synonymous with each other. In reality, though, there is one key difference between the two that can affect your mentality and your lifestyle. Busy means that you are spending or dedicating time because you want to or choose to spend your time a certain way.
Responsibility indicates that you NEED to spend your time a certain way. There is a dedication here which sometimes carries consequences or ramifications to it.
I am not necessarily saying one is better or worse than the other. Whether you choose to be busy or choose responsibility is up to you! Let’s take a look at an example that we have just with the writers of this blog. Again one is not better or worse than the other.
Anthony is Busy. He likes to cross train in several different martial arts and is truly a good student for the martial arts. He has many different perspectives when it comes to different approaches to sparring or fighting. Anthony is not an instructor on staff at any of the schools he trains at, however. He can decide to skip class on any given night. As a result, Anthony tends to have more of a life than the next person we are going to talk about.
The next person that we are going to discuss here is me! I have a lot of responsibilities (arguably too many, but that is my choice!) I run my own martial arts studio as the chief Instructor. Can I skip class at any of those studios? Up until this year where I have a team of black belts at my school, the answer was no! I am responsible for being there on every given day that there is class. As a result, I do not get to train for myself as much as Anthony, again that is my choice. I can only cross train in one other martial art provided the schedule that I have. I am perfectly fine with that. I do not have the life that Anthony does, though.
Now what do I have to gain here? I am gaining experience, I am gaining different opportunities that are only available to those that teach, and I am given the opportunity to spread the art. The euphoric feeling of promoting a student that you taught from day one is incomparable to any other feeling.
At the end of the day, you can be a good and happy martial artist regardless of which of the paths you choose. The choice is up to you. Would you rather be busy, or responsible?
