Wax On Mindset

Summer Series And How To Listen

SPEAKER_02 0:03

Yo, yo, yo, what's up, everybody? And welcome once again to the Unlearnt Podcast. I'm your host with David Gill, aka R A. What up, friends? It's your girl, Jaquita. This is the podcast that is helping you gain the courage to change your mind so that you can experience more freedom. Freedom.

SPEAKER_00 0:22

It's time, folks. It's time. You know, we're in an interesting time just in general, right? It's the summer months. I don't know about y'all, but it's hot. It's hot. And I know this is this is airing, you know, little, little, you know, trade secret. This is airing at a different time than when we're actually recording it. Okay. You said trade secret, like that's not a second.

SPEAKER_02 0:46

Like people find their notes. Right, right. Yeah. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 0:48

That's not that's not industry standard. You know what I mean? Like Living Single can do a whole podcast and tell us what was actually going on. That reliving single podcast is hitting. Okay. And I learned so much about the industry and the business from that. Here's a little secret, okay? We're not recording this today as being. This is not live. Uh hilarious. Thank you for that. Even now, even right now, it is hot. When I saw that the temperature was gonna be in the 90s, I said, my lord. And there was no breeze. I'm sorry. No breeze.

SPEAKER_02 1:23

We just ouch here. Hot. Yeah, it is hot. It's hot outside. It's not as hot as it's going to be. Um, but it's hot. And that's that's where we are. And it's but hot means you can stay inside and do what, Quita? You can do what? What can you do? You can watch movies. Look at that. Yes, you can.

SPEAKER_00 1:42

You can watch movies and you can tune in to our summer series. Absolutely. You can catch up on the Unlearned Podcast because we want you to be part of this community. Okay. Absolutely. You can you can like and you can share and you subscribe, okay, because you got time in your air-conditioned homes. Absolutely. Our workplaces, you know. Or workplaces. Put us in the background. Okay. The people got on your nerves in that meeting. Just turn on the unlearned podcast.

SPEAKER_02 2:12

If you have the uh if you have the little the meta glasses, you know, the little meta, you can put them just on, like Queen of Got, like you know, I mean, she don't have the metas, but you put the little glasses. I do not have the metas. And you could just nobody will know. You know what I'm saying? You be on your computer, on your phone, and listen. They won't hear it. They take you in the meeting. Ain't no headphones or nothing. The meta glasses are dope. I've tried a couple, uh, and I'm like, hey, this is one of the first things I've actually wanted in a while. Because it's like it's pretty cool. So, you know, we're just saying if you want to, you know.

SPEAKER_00 2:47

Five years we'll all have them. I'm sure we will. Yeah. They come with prescription. Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 2:54

Perfect. They do. Yeah, you can get you can get your own frames and everything. Not frames, um, lenses. Oh, yeah. Let's do it. Oh yeah. Um, but anyway, these are just options for you guys. You know what I'm saying? In your car, you know, in a meeting you don't want to be in, um, at your home, you know what I'm saying?

SPEAKER_00 3:11

Indoors, is telling you to watch the podcast while you're in a meeting, and that is crazy. I know we the middle adults do not advocate that you missed.

SPEAKER_02 3:24

We don't advocate for this listening to something else. I agree. I don't we don't advocate for it, but let's be honest, you all do it.

SPEAKER_00 3:33

Listen, let's be real, guys. Listen, the moment they started letting us bring when when I moved to the institution I'm at now, the the school I was at before, we all brought notebooks to meetings, journals, notepads. You know, at this new school, everybody brings their laptops. Absolutely. And I'm like, are you serious? I am sitting here typing emails. I get my best work done for something else when I'm in a meeting that's about something completely different. I'm like, I finally finished the spreadsheet now that I'm in this meeting about something else. We all do it. Best work done in there, and you know, with the uh MacBook, my phone is connected, my watch is connected, everything's connected together. So it's hard, it's hard on the yard for educators right now.

SPEAKER_02 4:23

Let's be real. We all do it and we just have to admit it. So you might as well unlearn some things while y'all not paying attention, no way. Anyway, um, no, I'm just playing. Okay, ha ha ha. That's I'm just joking. We don't, we don't, we don't advocate for it. But as you are inside in this cool air, let's watch some movies together.

Why The 1984 Karate Kid

SPEAKER_02 4:42

So this week, we're talking about a classic. Classic 1984 has many, many, many, many iterations afterwards because it's such a classic. But we wanted to go to the original, guys. We went back to the original. Nothing is better in most cases than the original. And I would I would argue that this is probably like you gotta, this is if you don't watch this one, you ain't watched it. You ain't watched it.

SPEAKER_00 5:11

Facts, and I think that there are there is a generation that has not watched this one, they watched another one, yeah.

SPEAKER_02 5:18

Right, and the other one was good, but it's not the classic, it's not the one, it's not the classic, and and this particular one we're talking about is the karate kid 1984 version, all right, 1984 version, the karate kid. That's the Miyagi, okay? That's where we at. That's where we at. That's where we at. I I it was one of those movies when I was growing up, like I watched multiple times. Like I it was always it was always in the video rental, you know, uh rotation. Absolutely. We're gonna be watching, yeah, yeah. We're gonna be watching the karate kid. Um, and there are just some classic moments in there that obviously we're gonna talk about. And that I mean, just classic lines and and concepts that we use today. This is why it's a classic.

SPEAKER_00 6:06

Facts, facts, and you know, you can just tell in the 80s and some in the 90s, like we were making movies to teach people valuable lessons. That's true. Like, you know, like we were like, yeah, we're making this movie, especially if it had a child in it. If there is a kid, a child, a teenager in here, we are trying to teach a moral concept. And the entire premise of the karate kid is a moral learning developing concept, right? And so uh I rather enjoyed it. Um I do have some questions though. Sure. Of course you do. Why did his mama move them across the country to work at a restaurant? And I was really bothered by that, okay, because you know, I ain't watched a movie in probably some decades. Okay, when in the movie starts off, they're in the car and they're saying goodbye to family, friends, everybody, you know, and they're driving, and she's like, We're going to California from New Jersey. Okay, so this is across country trek. And and they get there, she's like, Oh, you're gonna love it. Work, oh, it's gonna such a nice place. I'm not taking you to a dump, it's such a nice place. And did I tell you they have a pool? They have a pool, right? And we get there, and as soon as we pull up to the curb, I already know mama, mama was mama was was overselling this. Yes, absolutely. Okay, mama has oversold this entire situation. When we see that pool, and he says, This is this the only pool they got? Because ain't no way. This the pool she's been bigging up the whole way over here. Okay, right. And then when we finally get to see mama at work, I said, I know good and well she ain't working at a restaurant. I know good and well because they got restaurants in New York, they got they got restaurants in New Jersey, they got restaurants all up and down the East Coast. Why we had to come to California?

SPEAKER_02 8:09

I mean, sometimes you need a fresh start. You know, you don't know what she was going through. We don't know, you know, we don't see his father around, so we don't know if there was a something that she had to get away from. Also, could be that, you know, maybe he died. It was too tragic. And, you know, or that was, you know, I mean, you never know. Maybe family was just like, hey, I just need to separate myself from the family. We just need to go fresh start. I'm crossing country. You know, you don't know.

SPEAKER_00 8:35

I mean, I just think I just think, nah, these are not. Sometimes you need a fresh start. A fresh start could have happened in New York. Not necessarily. Fresh start could have happened down the east coast. You could have came down North Carolina, South Carolina, got you a fresh start. Okay, but you could have gone to Virginia. Fresh start. Okay, you know what I'm saying? Florida.

SPEAKER_02 8:56

You're like across the United States. Cali has that romanticism to it, though. It's like, yeah, we're going to California. Like, it's like that romantic kind of, especially back then in the 80s, it was just kind of like if you're gonna go to certain certain places you wanted to go to. And they came from the the East Coast, they know what that was like, the weather, the the people, the way that life worked, the social life, and all this stuff, the West was a whole new world.

SPEAKER_00 9:28

But I think that's, you know, to get to get into our deeper points. Here we go, y'all. Travel with us,

Expectations Versus Moving Reality

SPEAKER_00 9:34

here we go. I think sometimes the way we set up our expectations about moving into a new thing, we oftentimes don't include reality in those scenarios, right? Like the way we build the picture in our minds, like the way mom was building the picture of where they were going, it's land of opportunity, land of possibility. We're both gonna go here and flourish, right? And it was as if I was like, mom, have you seen this apartment complex yet? Like, have you, have you, have you really, and so we get in here, stuff in the apartment ain't working, right? Stuff the the pool is had whatever is at the bottom of that pool is green and nasty. Okay, it's it's it's disgusting, right? And we romanticize shifting from one thing to the next, and you really do have to get faced with the reality of a thing when you transition to something new. And we don't prepare ourselves for reality, we prepare ourselves for the fantasy, right? And we prepare others around us for this is gonna be amazing, this is gonna be great. Come with me. I'm taking you somewhere, and we're gonna, it's gonna be amazing, and and this is gonna happen, and we're gonna have everything we need. But you didn't prepare yourself for what was act, what it actually was gonna be like. She ain't prepare herself, she really didn't prepare her mind that I'm moving my child in the middle of high school because he had he got a driver's license. So I'm assuming he had to be at least like a sophomore.

SPEAKER_02 11:04

What sophomore junior?

SPEAKER_00 11:05

Sophomore junior, I don't know what age they were getting driver's licenses in the 80s. 16, I'm sure.

unknown 11:11

Right.

SPEAKER_00 11:11

So probably he was probably a junior, small junior, right? Baby was small, but okay, I'll give him junior. He had a mature mindset, you know. But but you you're moving him in the middle of his high school career to a place where where neither one of you know anyone, right? And you're not properly preparing him for the transition because you haven't properly prepared yourself. Because it is easier to think about the potential of a thing than the danger of a thing. And she prepared herself for the potential of this is great, and not that there's gonna be a lot of things that I we're gonna have to navigate as we as we go into this new terrain that we may not even be aware of. So such as uh uh a death-killing dojo preparing, you know, young men to end them.

SPEAKER_02 12:07

Finish him. Um, yeah, I think that I don't disagree with that. However, first of all, quick note because producer George said that mom says she got a job with a company with rockets and computers. I missed it.

SPEAKER_01 12:20

Mama lied.

SPEAKER_02 12:22

Mama lied. Also, maybe she was at the restaurant because it wasn't gonna start, you know, immediately. She needed a little cash. We don't know. You putting a lot of, you putting a lot of hate on mama. You hating on mama a little bit, a little bit more than I I like, okay? I don't think, I don't know that I'm gonna look at, I don't disagree with anything you said. I don't, because you're right about that. But I think that there's another side to it. Like the because she was really optimistic about she was optimistic, she was like, you know, this is gonna be great. And yes, you know, um oh man, Daniel. Yeah, Daniel was not uh, he didn't his expectations were obviously different. He didn't want to leave home, he didn't want to leave his friends and people, yeah. But I do think that his mom demonstrated a posture towards what's new. Uh, I think her posture towards newness was not bad. I think that you have to have an optimistic nature towards it. I'm not saying you have to be delusional. I don't think it's you have to be delusional, but I do think you have to have some optimism to say this decision is this is the right decision. I am aware it may not pan out exactly the way we want right now, but we're going to accept it for what it is and embrace it and we're gonna move and we're gonna move forward anyway. Like, and I think that there was also some of that in her, and and she was trying to do her best to make make him feel comfortable in a situation she knew he was uncomfortable with, but she made a decision that she felt was best and wanted to move forward with it and believed it was they were gonna come out better because of it, which I would argue they did.

SPEAKER_00 14:05

Can I just say, I think that the moment we're having here, hello, studio audience. Uh, this is a moment where you are witnessing firsthand the growth of Ruth and Jaquita. Okay, because I, the optimist, am like, she needs to take a more realistic approach. All right, she ain't she ain't considering all the facts and the figures, okay? She didn't even prepare them properly for the things. And Ruth, the realist, is sitting here like, actually, I see the benefit of the positivity. You gotta be positive. And I just want to say, friendship works. Right, go find you some friends who are the opposite of you, all right? And then one day, 20 years later, you'll both be sitting here saying, I actually understand the opposite point of view. Uh, I think that was a beautiful moment right there. And that's actually hilarious.

SPEAKER_02 14:58

I'm glad I I would never have seen that. That's really funny. Um, yeah, I think so, so yeah, so they move to California, which I don't know why I thought they were in Florida the whole time, but they're in California. Dang. And so it's a totally different climate. Um, you know, they and totally different, you know, social climate, all this stuff. And so, teenager, you know, he's getting the lay of the land himself, and he's just trying to like trying to figure it

Infatuation And Bullying In New Places

SPEAKER_02 15:27

out. So he starts meeting people, and he's like, you know, he starts to get invited to places, and he gets to uh, you know, mingle with the with the crowd and all this stuff, and he finds himself in a little trouble, Mr. Daniel does.

SPEAKER_00 15:40

Um Daniel.

SPEAKER_02 15:41

And you know, as as most movies, this trouble centers around a young lady. And that uh so the you know, we are we are at odds with another young man because of said young lady and two guys want her, and now we have a plot.

SPEAKER_00 16:04

Yes, yes, we have we have our conflict. We have our conflicts. We have and and Paul's blonde, blue-eyed girl, you know, always getting caught up, you know, in the midst of these men folk. Um, you know, it was it was I I found so many interesting points in this. First, you know, Daniel, uh, who who is our main character, you know, uh Mr. Miyagi, who we'll uh get introduced to here soon, calls him Daniel's son. I think that's cute. I'm watching Daniel as he's making it through this transition, right? He's coming in, he's observant, he's very observant of the needs uh and and the characters of the people that he's meeting, right? Like he comes in, he sees the lady sitting there with his dog. He he touches the dog. He says, Are you thirsty? Right? Goes up, gets the dog some water, brings it down. He says, the the lady out here reminds me of my uncle, you know. So he had a whole conversation with her, right? But this friend, right? This friend is like, hey, you know, we're going down to the beach to play some soccer. You want to come with? You just met this man, right? You just met this man, and that's cool. You going to the beach, right? You playing soccer, y'all kicking the ball around, it ain't no thing, right? You see a young lady on the beach, can't take your eyes up off of her, right? And then that's when you lose it. Right there, right there, right there, right? Some of his sense left. When the longer he looked in his eyes, the more his sense just went down. It just diminished. I read a book called The Sacred Search, and it talked about how uh uh infatuation, which is kind of like a stage we go through, uh, we call it the honeymoon stage, like that honeymoon stage where you're just like, oh, I just love them so much, and they're so perfect, and we're so perfect together. And the book literally said, infatuation will make you stupid. Oh, yeah, okay, because you don't see everything the way it fully in its full scope, right? And what Daniel lost the longer he stared into the eyes of his beloved, soon to be right, right, he he was so caught up with looking at her, right, that he he was about to miss the game, right? He missed out uh on bonding with these new guys, right? And became not only infatuated with her, but with everything concerning her. So later on, when a group of tall, broad-shouldered boys come on the scene and you see her fighting with them, you don't really take it all in. You don't really survey the scope of the land. You just go up and say, I must defend her because I look deeply in her eyes and I know we're connected. And if she's fighting this guy over a radio, I must not just defend her, she must get her radio back. Right, and but you haven't, you didn't even look at the guys, you didn't see, you didn't see a five-to-one scenario. He ended up in a fight, right? And I, you know, I really appreciate it because you know I know Daniel knows he a little. He, you know, he ain't no, he ain't no big beefy guy. Okay, but he stood his own. I was proud of him. I was like, New Jersey, stand up. Okay, I'm not from New Jersey, but right, I was proud of him and the New Jersey on the inside of him that wasn't about to be intimidated. But I just felt like if he had taken some moments to really understand what he was facing, what the social dynamics were, right? Because it wasn't just these are her friends, these are my friends. There's a whole class system here that you're unaware of, right? There's a whole separating line between you and her, right? That you didn't realize because you just saw her and got caught up in her, right? You also didn't realize that like these people that you've been traveling with, you don't really have a real connection with. So the moment that he stepped outside and did something outside of their norm, he kicked himself out of their group. Because they immediately, because they some busters, immediately looked at him and was like, yo, who's your man's? All right. And and they just walked away. I was like, Well dang. They did.

SPEAKER_02 20:32

That was terrible. And and he got beat up bad. You know, one of the things this movie, uh, the bullying was on a different level.

SPEAKER_00 20:40

I mean it really was.

SPEAKER_02 20:41

It was it was a pretty bad situation. I mean, I mean, he was, I mean, even when he pissed when he pushed the girl down, you know, he pushed her. Yeah, it's like, oh, hold on, man. Like this dude was he had a real anger problem. Like, and you know, and I think to your point, when when you're when you are in new environments, you do have to be aware of the people you're around. You can't just be oh, you can't be what's the word I'm looking for? You can't be generous with your activity in a in an environment that you can't trust. That's good. So he he didn't know. And he's just he's just being who he thinks he should be, especially in a moment where he sees somebody needs help, which is very admirable. And I wouldn't, I wouldn't even say he needs to do anything different, because the girl needed help. This dude, somebody needs to stand up to this dude.

SPEAKER_01 21:36

This dude was terrible.

SPEAKER_02 21:38

Um, but it's also it's also important to understand when you do that and you're unaware of your environment, situate the the situation the situation can get away from you. Like, and the consequences are real. Um, and for Daniel, his consequence was a black guy. It's pretty bad. Um, yeah. And and embarrassment and you know, and isolation. Yeah, like man, okay, that was all right. That was the difference between STT scores right there. All right. Um, so I think like that, that is it's it's always something we need to keep in mind. We're in a new environment. Let's be aware of how we're moving in that environment. And and sometimes kind of we might need to use some wisdom as how we react to certain situations. Yeah. Because you don't you don't know what's what else is going on around you.

SPEAKER_00 22:37

But you know, I think even just for our middle adult lives, sometimes we move too freely because we don't understand the full lay of the land. We don't understand the full scope. And we are contributing to an environment in a way that will later turn on us.

Guard Your Words At New Levels

SPEAKER_00 22:58

Um, I was telling Ruth Abigail earlier that I had a dream, and in the dream, I was talking with someone I thought that I could trust, and I was giving her all this information just about me and where I was and what I was doing. And as I was talking to her, she was writing down what I was saying. And I saw her like literally writing a narration down of everything that I said, and then she highlighted certain things. She highlighted it in pink and she drew a box around it. And then later on in the conversation, I I said something nice that like turned her heart back to me. And she told me, she was like, I was gonna use this thing that you said. I had highlighted it to use against you later to discredit you, right? And like so she told me her plan. But there a lot of times people are not telling you their plan. Yeah, they're not telling you how they're taking everything you do and everything you say, and they are chronicling it, right? They they have a transcript of the words that you have released, also how the enemy works, right? There is a transcript of the words you've released, of the thoughts that you've given, the ideas that you've shared, right? That will later be used to your disadvantage because you didn't understand who you were talking to or how you were contributing to an environment. And we can be careless because sometimes it's because we're trusting, sometimes it's because we're tired, right? In this situation, in this particular situation, I was tired of waiting on something. So I became more carefree with my words, right? And and telling more than I normally tell, right? And I think unfortunately, something that is just true as you continue to move into different landscapes and different horizons and different elevations, the way you walk into it, you have to walk in it more carefully than you left your last situation, right? You may have been able, you may have been able to interact with people in one way. I was talking with somebody else, and she just recently experienced a great promotion, is doing a fantastic job. But she's like, I am having to navigate my relationships differently because I in my new space, I can't operate at the same friend level, at the same homegirl level that I once did because I have a new, I have a new capacity, right? I have a new post and I have to protect my post and everything that my post protects. Right. Right. And people who have not been in your position don't understand your disposition. That's good. That's good. That's really good. Absolutely. Right. And so, and so you really can't explain to people, they're gonna be like, man, you got this role and you changed up on us. No, like I had I had to I had to match where God placed me. And I I in order to carry more, I had to become more. Yeah, and I can't explain that to you. It's it's it's something you'll understand when you get to a point where you you have to carry stuff differently because you're carrying more. Yes, that's true. And I think that happens even in relationships, right? Like this is why, you know, a lot of people say when they're married, it's harder for them to hang with their single friends or whatever. I don't necessarily believe that's true. I I still hang with all my married friends. That's right. You know, because I'm in preparation. Anywho, had to get one in. There you go. Always because I'm I'm standing in faith for what the Lord is gonna do for me. But but I do think that in order for me to remain current, my mindset has to shift. Like I can't be like, man, you can't come out no more. Why you can't never da-da-da-da-da. Right? Like my mindset has to shift in order to continue to walk with people.

SPEAKER_02 27:05

And yeah, and I I think uh I think that's that is it's critical again, just especially when you're in when you're in a new environment. And we talk a lot about new environments and new, you know, new new levels and all that stuff. Excuse me. And what you're saying, I think is very critical, the mindset shift there, and understanding that there has to be a shift. It won't always, it certainly won't happen immediately. Um, and as we see with Daniel, it doesn't happen immediately. Like he keeps learning the reality of his environment. Um, and the way he keeps learning it is through conflict, quite frankly.

Conflict That Pushes You To Grow

SPEAKER_02 27:48

Like he's he's he is he is every time there's a when when there is when when it's when he's kind of discovering something new or or even attacking a frustration he has because he can't do what he wants to do, it's through conflict. And I think that there's a very real reality to this to conflict and how that plays it plays a part and how you get to your season of real growth. And and so without the conflict, Daniel would have never taken advantage of Mr. Miyagi the way he did. There would have been no need to. So he wouldn't have put himself in a position to grow, he wouldn't have put himself in a position to learn. He had he is he is he had to kind of taste that that that conflict through through uh situations in a new environment that put him in a situation, put him in a place where he needed help. And so when he got to the point where he's like, I need help because I'm tired of being beat down, I'm tired of being embarrassed, I'm tired of being alone, I'm tired of all this stuff, I'm tired of these kids coming at me like that, like like I'm nothing. And so he said, I I need help, and he broke down and he got help. And Mr. Miyagi is in a storyline, what we're gonna call the guide, right? He's the guide, and he is the one who is walking, who's gonna end up walking Daniel through this transition from who he was to who he can become.

SPEAKER_04 29:32

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 29:32

And we see this, and this is I mean, this is the core of the movie, right? This is what the movie is about, is Daniel becoming uh a better version of Daniel.

SPEAKER_04 29:45

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 29:46

Um and the way he does this, and I think this is uh for for me, this is one of the things that I I see so clearly, and it's not, it ain't, it's not hidden, like it's very, it's very obvious. But there's a process here that he goes through that we have to we I think it's important for us to understand. First of all, it's important to understand that it is a process. So he has this conflict, he finds this guide, and he doesn't immediately get to the new person. Yeah, he there is a process, there are steps. Here's the beauty of it, and the frustration. These steps don't seem to make sense most of the time.

Trusting A Process That Feels Weird

SPEAKER_02 30:27

So Mr. Miyagi got him doing stuff like waxing cars, sanding floors, painting fences, and he is sitting here being like, Why am I doing all this when I talk when I ask this man? I want to learn karate. Yeah. And you got me remodeling your house. Like, I I don't I don't understand this. I don't understand what what why how does this process connect to my to my outcome, to my desired outcome? How does your process connect to my desired outcome? And wow, that is, and a lot of us when we when we are when we're in the middle of something, you know what your desired outcome is. But often whatever process you're in, you can't trace it. So you need a guy to help you, and you need somebody you trust to help you get there.

SPEAKER_04 31:22

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 31:22

And Mr. Miyagi is the is the is the is the vehicle to that. So, you know, so we have um we have these scenes where we see Daniel just working. And if you're watching it for the first time, you don't even realize what's going on. You know, it's like paint paint like hired help. Yeah, I mean, like, you know, paint the fence. No, paint it like this. Or, you know, no, wax it like this. Breathe.

SPEAKER_00 31:48

It's very important to breathe.

SPEAKER_02 31:50

You know, like you gotta, like, yeah, like okay. Uh no, say it like this. No, like this. It's like all these specifics. Man, I'm I'm not, I'm just painting the fence. Like, what's the big deal? Like, don't you just want this fence painted? You know, I thought it was really interesting. He told him when he's painting the fence, he said, do the big ones with your right hand, the little ones with your left hand. So it's like, you want me to use both hands? Why? Like, why would I use both hands to paint a fence? I'm I'm dominant-handed in one of them. All these little things that that, but what he did though, is he did it. Yeah, one thing we can say about Daniel, he did it.

SPEAKER_00 32:30

Let me tell you something, because as I was watching the movie, I was just I was waiting on Daniel to get to the part where he was like, Man, this is some crap. Why you got me doing all this? And he lasted much longer than I would have. Okay, wax on, wax off would have got me. Excuse me, sir. I don't see nobody else doing this. I don't see no wax on, and I don't see no wax off. Yeah, okay. I I ain't never seen, you know, when we went over there to the dojo, all right. They weren't doing no wax on, wax off. Okay, they weren't doing no paint motion like this and breathing. Okay, I I you the caught me right from the jump. Excuse me. I need I need to be punching and kicking something. That's it, right? That's right. But Daniel, uh, what I loved about Daniel, and I think he exhibited it from that very first fight, right? Like that he has a deeper, he has a deeper moral understanding, right? Like he is doing things and he's doing them for a reason. And what I loved about Daniel and Miyagi is that their relationship did not start with karate, right? It started with it, you know, Mr. Miyagi came, fixed the fixed the faucet, but then it started with the bonsai tree. Bonsai. Did I say it right? Because that was a big thing in the movie, right? Right, but it started, it started with prune the tree, right? And it started with them sharing moments together, right? And him like leaving and saying, Man, Mr. Miyagi's really cool, mom. Like it started with them building connection, right? And so Mr. Miyagi earned his trust in little ways before he became a teacher. And I think Daniel has a really good way, and it's shown throughout the movie that Daniel has a really good way of connecting with people in ways that meets their needs, that that has a deeper level of just authentic understanding, right? When he meets the lady sitting by the pool with no water in it, when he meets the lady sitting by the pool with the dog, right? He's like, I see you, dog. Here's some water, right? Yeah, everybody else just walked by the dog, a little scraggly little dog, right? Daniel's like, you look thirsty, right? Right. He's he's a need meter, right? And so with Mr. Miyagi, I think Daniel inherently felt he needs friendship, companionship. He he, you know what I'm saying? If I go into his space, I'm offering more, I'm I'm offering more than I'm taking. And I think when he finally got to Mr. Miyagi's house, first of all, Mr. Miyagi's house was nice. He walked up in there and he was like, oh snap. You know what I'm saying? Mr. Miyagi don't live. I thought Mr. Miyagi would have lived in that little apartment complex. Nah, Mr. Miyagi got a little estate. Okay, he got a little he got ponds and fountains and all this nice wood everywhere. I was like, this is nice. Okay, Mr. Miyagi, and he got like four or five cars. Daniel said, Where all these cars come from? Mr. Miyagi said Detroit. Okay, don't worry about me and my cars. Okay, I got them cars. Okay, but I I think that Daniel went into it with a genuine trust of Mr. Miyagi because of his history with him, right? And I think when when it got to the point, I didn't see it when they was when he was waxing them cars. I was all right, he was waxing some cars. But when he got out there and he was sanding them floors, yeah, and he was like on all fours with the sand, the little sand strip in one hand, and the little thing in the other hand, and sanding like this. I said, This is this is the Lord. This is just how the Lord does this. The Lord will have you working on something, and you have an end goal in mind, and you like, I have to get to the tournament. And the Lord says, This is the way, and you be like, This is the way? This way, this way, I'm sanding floors, yeah, I'm painting fences. This is the way to get to the tournament, right? Because nobody else is taking this way. Again, I've seen what the other people are doing. They're they're sparring, yeah, they're battling, right? They're standing in uniforms, I'm in work clothes, right? I'm in a lemony. Oh my god. Sorry. It was I'm in my regular clothes on my knees, sanding floors, right? Standing up, paint covering my hands, covering my body. What does paint have to do with karate? Right. But there was an inherent trust. And I said as I was watching the movie, I said, Daniel has a better attitude than most believers. Because we we'd have been we'd have been on it from the first thing. What you mean? Why we're gonna wax the cost?

SPEAKER_01 37:50

Why are we even at this house?

SPEAKER_02 37:52

Okay, because this isn't what I asked you for. This isn't what I asked you for, and it's like that's the it's the mindset like, okay, no, but I asked you for that. I asked you for this, I asked you for the promotion, I asked you for the husband, I asked you for the children, I asked you for the financial blessing, I asked you for the for the name it. This is what I asked you for. Yeah, and you get introduced to the process. And then now I'm waxing floors. That ain't what we talked about. And and so to your point, we yeah, when you ask, you ask God for something, you get introduced to the process, not the thing. And you don't, and you you have to, you know, but but I like what you what you said about the trust um thing because and this is something we we talk about um when uh when we're working with young people, like is there's a process uh similar to a uh young people have people have um emotional bank accounts, yeah.

Deposits Before Withdrawals In Relationships

SPEAKER_02 38:49

And so there is a just like your regular bank account, you have credits and you have uh deposits. What we do oftentimes, sometimes with good intention, a lot of times with good intention, is we start withdrawing. Um, I'm sorry, I said credits and withdrawals. We start withdrawing before we put in credits.

SPEAKER_00 39:10

My lord.

SPEAKER_02 39:11

And yeah, people don't respond well. If you haven't put in credit, if you have a deposited money into your account, you start withdrawing, that junk will go red and it's gonna be negative. Now you're in debt, and now you have to get now you have to work your way back up to zero.

SPEAKER_04 39:27

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 39:28

Versus if I spend time depositing and putting credits into my account and I do that enough, eventually I can take some out and spend it because I have something in there. It's the same way with people and relationships. And so with this relationship with Mr. Miyagi, he could, because they started on a foundation where he was building up credits and he was depositing into Daniel by spending time with him, uh, by showing him things that he didn't know, by just bringing him into his home, when he had him start working, that was him withdrawing from him. But he could withdraw because he put something in. Yeah. And so we have to remember as much as because I'm of course, Miss Miyagi, he he's our wise, he's wise, he's lived life, he can probably see exactly what's going on. Yeah. And so I think a lot of us we we get we get very antsy about getting people started with the process that we know they need. And we don't take the time to really put in and deposit things into them. We immediately want to go for the withdrawal. Like, okay, this is what you need, go do this, go do this, go do this, go do that.

SPEAKER_04 40:41

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 40:41

And that's not how people work, it's not how relationships work. That's it. That's not, you know, and so that I think is so important. We gotta unlearn that we you can't you can't withdraw until you deposit it to somebody. That's it. And and so we gotta spend time depositing. There's so much that people need before you take something from them. Because that's exactly what it's gonna feel like. When you put people through a process that's unpleasant, it feels like you're taking something from me. You're not, you're putting them through something that's gonna get them somewhere. But the way people feel, you gotta understand they it feels like I'm it feels like you taking from me. It feels like you're making me smaller, it feels like I'm I'm I don't have control anymore. Like I'm I am really struggling with this. But if I if you if I know that the person that's withdrawing from me has deposited more into me than they're withdrawing, I can do it. That's I can I can do it. And I think that's part of why we saw Daniel, even though he had a breaking point, we saw Daniel uh get a little further than we might feel like and I think that you know y'all know I don't y'all always always make the disclaimer. I'm not I'm not trying to be super deep, but I do think that when when it comes to our relationship with God, we do not accept enough enough deposits from him. Wow, because he's constantly trying to deposit into you his love, his faithfulness, his grace, and we don't accept it for whatever reason. We and we don't always believe it. We don't always believe it's happening. So then, but it's much easier for us to see the hard stuff what's being taken. So it's like, okay, all right, well, I didn't get this, and I did I wanted this, and God didn't answer this prayer, and it's taking too long here. And what why can't why why do I have to keep, you know, why does this keep happening to me? Why do I have to wait for this? I deserve more of this, X, Y, Z. And we have a beef with God. But what God is trying to do is He's I'm trying to deposit into you so that when these things do happen, you don't feel defeated. You know who actually gave you what you have. So now I can move into this process full and not empty. But if I don't believe that God is actually filling me up, then I'm going to have a mindset that I'm empty and I can't move forward. And so I I want to, I just want to encourage you if if you are let God deposit into you through community, through his word, through prayer, through these things that we a lot of times take for granted. Let let him deposit into you so that when there are moments of withdrawal in your life, you don't meet that, you don't meet that moment empty.

SPEAKER_00 43:44

That is so good. That is so good. I think also, man, that's good. Uh, I think the point about us allowing God to deposit in us, you know, that's why people say, you know, you need to do a gratitude journal, or you know, you need to. Like, you know, uh count your blessings, you know, and you need to just start thinking God, you know, because a lot of times we have a natural negativity bias that when we look at situations, when we look at our lives, when we look at what has happened, your mind is naturally tuned to see it as a negative situation. Whereas if you take the time, step back, take the time and look at it and see, well, this is what God did. This is what happened, right? Something may not have happened the way that I wanted it to, but this is what God did through the situation. You know, uh, I was telling actually Producer Joy. I was just telling Producer Joy that when I look back on my life, there were times where I was hurt, but I was not harmed. Right? My feelings may have gotten hurt. I may have gone through seasons that I didn't understand. And so I felt hurt, but I was never harmed. And that is something that I can thank God for. That God allowed me to go through different seasons that developed me, that developed my character, that developed my understanding of myself, my understanding of him, my understanding of relationships, my understanding of organizations, right? It developed me, it made me better, right? And even though I may have felt hurt in the process of it, I was not harmed, right? And that's what we mean when we say we came out the fire and we don't smell like smoke, right? I went through something, right? And it was hard to go through it, but I came out unharmed from it. Yeah. And that's how God navigates us through situations where they might be difficult. You might face persecution. Oh, what's that scripture, 2 Corinthians 4? You know, I was persecuted but not forsaken. I was uh okay. I'm gonna I'm gonna pull that up and we're gonna we're gonna we're gonna we're gonna read that um on the podcast on today. Hallelujah. Um I do these things to annoy Ruth Abigail. She does, she knows it annoys me. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. I I like to introduce Churchy Jaquita um for that specific reason. But I think you know, we we get in these places where we feel like there's no way out, but then you you get to a place where you trust God, where and you can get to a place like the prophets, like some of the great heroes of the Bible whose stories we adore, right? Like, and you can get to a place where you can face hard things and your trust in God will outweigh your fear. And and that's and you know, like, because Daniel had a real reason to be afraid. What you mean? I gotta go to the tournament. But what Mr. Miyagi set him up for was that we were going to we're gonna we're gonna resolve this in the safest way possible. I'm gonna put you in a situation where there are rules, where there are boundaries, where there are witnesses, right? And this is this is gonna be the place of resolution. We are not gonna duke it out in their dojo. Yeah, yeah. I'm not gonna allow you to continue getting beat up in the streets, right? There's a difference when you walk by yourself and when you walk with the Lord. When you out here by yourself using your own contraptions and your own solutions, you're gonna get hurt. That's right. And that's why Daniel kept getting hurt because he kept coming up with crazy ideas. He did, you know, like, hey, I know what to do. First, he tried to fight it outright, right? Got beat up. Then he tried to pull a little practical joke. He put the holes in the bathroom stall, yeah, right, and got chased down by five of them and almost lost his life. Uh-huh. And Mr. Miyagi, I'm telling you, I love they be having some spiritual inferences in here, right? Because Mr. Miyagi stepped in right on time. Because they were about to do the Mortal Kombat finish him move. Right. And they could have really hurt him. They would have ended up in jail. Had they finished that fight? Because there was no stopping. I don't need no boy name, little blonde-haired boy.

SPEAKER_02 48:29

Yeah, I can't remember his name.

SPEAKER_00 48:30

Yeah, yeah. It was unimportant. Okay. You was just somebody for Daniel to beat, right? Eventually. Right. Because you spent the first half of the movie on his tape.

SPEAKER_02 48:40

Beating knowing him, that's right.

SPEAKER_00 48:41

Yeah. But there's such a difference, there's such a contrast between when I try to do it myself, yeah, and when I do it with the Lord's protection and in his will, because God sets up boundaries around you. And that's in every area of your life. You know, what job am I gonna take? You know, the Lord will set you in a place that will be a safe place for you to learn and grow, right? What relationship should I pursue? The Lord will set you up in a place, and I'm not saying it may not be your forever relationship, but it's it's if you are with God, it will be a safe one, right? Where you won't, you might get your feelings might get hurt, but you're gonna come out unharmed. You're gonna be okay. Yeah, that's right. Right? Who who should I trust in friendship? Who should I, you know, where should I go? Where should I spend my time? Which should uh God puts us in places that have boundaries where you might get touched by something, but you won't get harmed.

SPEAKER_02 49:43

Yeah, that's right.

SPEAKER_00 49:45

And I I think I think that there was such a, you know, when Mr. Miyagi started setting things in motion, he put Daniel, he and Daniel was like, What you mean you put me in the tournament? Mr. Miyagi said, I gave you two months of not getting beat. Don't play with me. All right, I know what I'm doing. Right, right, right. You know, and and and set him up. And and I I really feel like that's just like the Lord.

SPEAKER_02 50:09

I I what this is the the thing, other thing I live, I love about his training is he started him off.

Defense First And The Armor Of God

SPEAKER_02 50:18

I think we underestimate this, right? Um when I was in uh when I was playing sports, uh basketball particularly, we um I mean this is a common thing. All coaches, I think, say this at some point. You know, office offense scores points, but defense wins games. That was drilled into my back. There you go. I was drilled, I was just drilled. Offense offense gets points, defense wins games, and that is so true. You can score a hundred points, but if you don't play defense, you're gonna lose the game, right? Like you could, you, you've got to, you've got to stop the other person from scoring at some point. And so what he what he taught him was defense first. And I and and so most of what what we go through in life is not about attacking things, yeah, honestly. Um it is uh it's about being aware and being able to defend against things. So it's a preventative posture as opposed to necessarily an attack posture. This is also interesting, right? Um you know, since we since we since we here, we we're talking about the Bible. Um in Ephesians uh six, where it talks about the the armor. The armor of God. Yes, I know it. Okay. Um we uh you can see and you you look at you look at the armor, right? And you go through it and you look at the pieces of armor, and there's more defensive material than offensive offensive material um that that Paul lists as part of the armor of God. The helmet, the breastplate, the shoes, um, the shield, uh like all of those. The the the def the offensive that you have is the sword. That's your weapon. It's one thing. You have one weapon. Now, it doesn't make uh it doesn't make that well. Obviously, that weapon is is the that's the only weapon you need. But most of what he what he talks about are things to defend against the arrows that the enemy throws. Because at the end of the day, to your point, when we're with God, we don't need to be as offensive as we think. God fights the battles most of the time. And he is, God fights your battles all the time, but he he does like he's going to take care of it, but he doesn't need you to take care of it. Yeah, what he needs you to do is trust in what he's given you to fight off the the arrows that are coming at you. Yeah, and so that and I think it's I think it's so interesting how you know Miyagi he spends 80% of the of the training. We see him punching and doing all that stuff at the very end. Like, you got two days left, let's punch. And and so, but but that but we also see during the fight, most of what he did was defend against other people's attacks. You also think you also know and you notice that when you are attacking, you get tired faster. Yeah, not when you're defending.

SPEAKER_00 53:37

Come on here and preach, Ruth. This is a whole sermon right here.

SPEAKER_02 53:40

And so you get tired quicker when you just go in. One of the things when he was doing the training, like on the beach, right? He starts to feel himself and he starts to punch, punch, but he's like, I'm going. And he just starts to get all wild with it. His feet start to move. He looked like he just he's just like, Okay, I got this now. I got it. I'm ready to go, I'm ready to go. And me, I was like, Man, hold on so damn focus, shift them up, like stop doing all of this. Like, you'll need all of that. You don't need to do all that, just focus, just punch one at a time. You don't need all that because you have the energy your opponent doesn't, because you spend more time defending than attacking. One punch from you is enough. Your opponent is you're gonna tire them out because you go you defending. I'm just doing this.

SPEAKER_00 54:24

Wax off, wax off used by the great Muhammad Ali. Okay, that's correct, exactly. Yeah, like let them let them punch out, let them go themselves out. That's it. You know, bring it then after after they've worn themselves out, hit them with the one, two. Okay, and I don't I don't even need a whole lot.

SPEAKER_02 54:42

That was that was all right. That was okay. I like that. I like that. That's very good. That's very good. I you don't need a whole lot of attack when you have spent the time defending.

SPEAKER_00 54:51

Man, that is really good because I think just in our general life, we stay on offense. Yeah, we do. We we we're waiting, we're ready, we're we're waiting to attack, yes. And I think a lot of a lot of us have taken life and perceived it as because I've been attacked, I need to learn to attack.

SPEAKER_02 55:14

That's good. That's really cool.

SPEAKER_00 55:15

Right. Instead of saying, since I've been attacked, I need to learn better defense, right? And that guards my position because when you stay in a in a space of attack, you allow your outside circumstances to determine the temperature and the culture of you and your environment, right? But when you stay on defense, you're saying I have an environment set here, I have a temperature set here, I have a way of life that I've set, and I'm setting a defense around that that you can't rattle me. You can't change me, you can't pull me to the left or the right, because the only the only weapon in the in the armor of God that you're giving is the sword, which is the word, right? That should be your only attack because the same word that you use to set your life with, that's the word that you use to prevent to attack against whatever's coming against you. And really all it's doing is resetting everything around you to be level with the word, right? But when we take it on our own minds, that we're gonna okay, come at me again. I'm I got something for you. I got something. Soon as you get to that mode, soon as you get to that, try me, okay? Try me because I ain't the one to play with. You you off. You off. You off. Yeah, you off because you are allowing somebody to dictate how you move. That's man, come on, man. Come on, you're allowing external circumstances to dictate your response. That's correct. Where the Lord is saying, Hey, first of all, I don't need you to respond. Don't need you to do the only the only thing I need you to respond with is with my word. I got I got the response. You stick with the word. That's good, man. I listen with the word. That's and a lot of times the word the word is for you to reset you. That's right. Yeah, that's your attack. Your attack is at the end. That's your attack. That's right. I'm resetting my mind, I'm resetting my heart, I'm resetting my spirit so that my response is one of faith. And because anytime you're attacking, most likely you are not attacking from a place of faith. You're attacking from a place of fear. You are defending something because you're afraid it might be overtaken. But God always, you know, God will always have you wait on him.

SPEAKER_02 57:47

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 57:48

And say, you know, you know, uh uh when Moses tells the people of God, you know, like stand still and see the salvation of the Lord.

SPEAKER_02 57:59

Yes.

SPEAKER_00 57:59

Right. We're we are we're gonna stay here. We're not gonna move. We're gonna watch God move. That look, that's it. And 98% of the time, that is how the Lord will instruct you. That's that's it. Is stand still and see the salvation of the Lord. When he does instruct you to move, he's cleared the way for you to move. And he's gonna give you divine wisdom and instruction that's uh that's most times countercultural or counterintuitive. He's gonna have you go away that you would not have gone on your own. He's gonna have you wax on, wax off. Wax on, wax, on, wax off. You're gonna be sanding floors, painting fences, painting houses. That's it. Being like, what does this have to do with? What am I doing? Yeah, yeah. But the but that's the wisdom of God. And in the movie, that was the wisdom of Mr. Miyagi, who who saw Daniel's whole situation, right? And understood. I mean, Mr. Miyagi, what I loved about Mr. Miyagi and Daniel's relationship is that Daniel could have approached him saying, I'm I'm coming to you because I need this end outcome. I need this end goal, right? I need, I need, I need to win this tournament. Right. Right. I need to first I need to make it to this tournament. Right. I need to make it to this tournament, right? And I need to win, right? And so you're teaching me karate for this end goal, right?

Mentorship Without An Agenda

SPEAKER_00 59:27

But what I love about when the when the mentorship relationship is one that is authentic, there is a give and take that happens here. It should never be one-sided. And a lot of times, either the mentor or the mentee will make it one-sided. Usually the mentor will do some power trip where it's I'm the mentor. You gotta, and and this power structure exists because I'm the teacher and you the student, and we can't break this wall between us, right? And then they wonder, you wonder why you get burnt out mentoring. You wonder why you no longer love pouring, right? Because you pouring into that wall, basically. That wall you created, that's what you pouring into. You no longer you you eventually you will stop pouring into the person because they're gonna get tired of coming around the wall to get something from you and then having to go back behind it. Like I can come around the wall when you when you want when you want to interact with me, but then I have to go back behind the wall and pretend like the rest of my life, the rest of my thoughts, feelings, and ideas don't don't matter. Don't matter, right? Or as a mentee, you're so focused on your needs and your outcomes that you fail to see them as a whole person.

SPEAKER_03 1:00:45

Right, right, right.

SPEAKER_00 1:00:46

Right. And what I loved about Daniel and Mr. Miyagi's relationship is that there was such a Mr. Miyagi understood Daniel's entire life, right? It wasn't just that he was he was getting beat up. It was you are here with a single mom, right? Neither one of you have a lot of money, right? You're in a new place, you you're you're trying to make friends, right? Because remember, uh, Daniel was like, I'm not going to prom or to the dance. To the dance, right? I'm not, I'm not going to the dance. Uh, I think it was a Halloween party or something. So uh, I'm not going. And Mr. Miyagi was like, how can we get you there? Right. Because it's more, it's about more than karate.

unknown 1:01:28

Right.

SPEAKER_00 1:01:28

Yeah, it was about more than karate, right? Yes. They built a relationship that that began to intersect and to fit each other's needs where they could they could experience each other's vulnerabilities in a way where they could they could begin to fill some of those voids for each other. So Mr. Miyagi began to fill this father void for Daniel, and Daniel began to fill the son void for Mr. Miyagi, and their relationship had a foundation that was more than an outcome. And a lot of times, even in the business world, even in relationships, you are building relationships with an outcome in mind. You know what I'm saying? Even, even in the dating world, you out here like, I need a husband. And the guy is like, I remember uh someone very close to me um was dating somebody whom I loved. I was like, hey, I love her, you know what I'm saying? I really like her, you know what I'm saying? This she she gotta be the one. And later on, they told me I couldn't tell if she wanted to be married to me or if she just wanted to be married, and that's why he ended it. Right. And a lot of times we are approaching relationships with I want a husband, and and I'm getting older, we're in these middle adult years, I need to be popping out some babies. Right, right, right. If we're gonna have them, we need to have them now, right? And you're building relationships on your own objective, right, for your own outcome, and wondering why five years down the road, like, wait, why this ain't working? Right, right, right. Why I don't really like you like that? Why I don't really be in here? How come I don't know you? Right? Because you built it with an objective in mind and not with a genuine interest in the person, yeah. Because you might have decided differently had you gone in with a different outlook. And I love that for Daniel and Mr. Miyagi, the relationship was much deeper than karate, right? They had a foundation that was built upon genuine interest in each other, yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_02 1:03:42

And I the mutuality was was uh was key. They know they knew they both needed something from each other, yeah, and they allowed they allowed their relationship to flourish like that. Um before we before we wrap up, I just want I gotta say this for Miss Miyagi. Ms. Miyagi, he's just he's a classic character. Yeah and he's a classic dude. One of my favorite um scenes is when they're on the beach and they and this uh these these two guys they're drinking beer and they put their beer bottles on Mr. Miyagi's car. And they come back, they finna get in the car, and Mr. Miyagi very politely says, Hey, can you uh you know move your bottles? And he puts another bottle on there, move it yourself. Now, Mr. Miyagi could have just attacked both of them and two two hits and nothing. It's you know, it would have taken nothing, right? But what he did was he didn't attack the person, he attacked, he attacked the issue, which was the beer bottles. And he said, okay, and he just he did a uh little, you know, I don't know what you call it. Uh he did his hand like like this. Y'all can't, if you listen, y'all say, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, okay, yeah. Um, and and so he and he swiped his hand across the top of the bell brows. He he did the whole um uh the whole all the tops came off at the same time. Yeah. And they, you know, naturally were like, okay, all right, I'm I'm chilling. Um and Daniel said, How did you do that? And Mr. Miyagi says, don't know, first time.

SPEAKER_04 1:05:25

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 1:05:26

And I I love that because it really paints this, like, hey, if you stay ready, you ain't got to get ready kind of mentality. Because Mr. Miyagi, it what he's teaching Daniel is who he is. It's not just what he does. It comes out when it needs to come out, and he doesn't have to worry about it working because he knows it's in him. And I think if we if we can have that posture of when you do something and when you know something, and when you know who you are. So deeply. When you come across things, I think we can unlearn two things. Number one, you don't have to always attack the people, attack the problem. The problem was then beer bottles on the thing. Look, I don't even care about y'all. The beer bottles need to get off my car.

SPEAKER_03 1:06:14

Absolutely.

SPEAKER_02 1:06:14

So I'm not here to really fight you. But since you want to play with me, I'm gonna take these beer bottles and you're gonna see, don't play with me no more. So I'm attacking the problem, not the person. And then the second thing is I I'm doing something I'm so confident in because it's who I am. I don't have to, I don't have to psych myself out to do to do to do things that I know I believe I can do.

SPEAKER_03 1:06:42

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 1:06:42

And so it instinctively was whatever it is that he had went towards the problem, even though he had never done it before. But it's because he had done so much. He's this is the way he lives. Yeah, he knew immediately what to do. And it didn't, and he he wasn't concerned about whether it was gonna work or not.

SPEAKER_00 1:07:03

And that that translated to Daniel when he got to the matches, because as soon as they got to the mat, it was clear. They were just like, we've been out here just you know, freestyling. We don't know none of these rules. Well no, we what's the point? How you get a point? You can get a point, lose a point. What's the point system? You know what I'm saying? What what what's these boundaries? I can't run off the mat. What's all of this? Right. But Daniel had to, when he got to the matches, he had to trust what was inside of him in order to prevail through those matches.

SPEAKER_01 1:07:40

That's it.

SPEAKER_00 1:07:41

And and it worked. It worked. Now, I will say the end of the movie was hilarious. It's always fun, it's always great. It just cut off. Let's and we're done. You're not. I've been mad about it. No meaningful moment between no run up and hug Mr. Miyagi. It was like a glance credits. Okay, I was like, wait a minute. It's the 80s. Exactly. Ain't no end credits. Go ahead and cut it off. Okay, this ain't this ain't the Avengers. All right. It ain't finna be no hidden scene. It's over. It's over. He won. He won, we out. Yep. Okay. And um I I I think uh I think it was such it was so good. But you know, but the same thing you're talking about, that improvisation, improvisation, right? That that Mr. Miyagi did, like, I trust what's inside of me. Once you get to a level where you have mastered something, then you can improv. That's correct. Many of y'all out here improving and you ain't learned the basics. Okay, you can't go out. That's what he was telling Daniel. Don't go out and do what I do. Because I've mastered some things. I've done this, that's right. Yeah, to where I can go out here and I can figure stuff out on the fly, right? Because I've I've operated at this level for a long time. Right. If you come out here, you're gonna get yourself hurt. Because he'd end up having to what? Fight these men. Because he'd have tried to do it, realized he couldn't, and they'd have been like, now we're fighting you. Right. And and he was, I think he was also teaching him some conflict management. Um wait, there was one other thing I wanted to say.

Balance Perseverance And Closing Scripture

SPEAKER_00 1:09:32

I think that it was um important that Mr. Miyagi pointed out to Daniel the importance of balance consistently throughout his training and how that became such a critical piece. And I think he didn't want him to get too caught up on either side of it, right? Like again, going back to that, we're not just here to learn karate or to win a tournament, right? This is about developing you into a person, and I think that as you're going through things, we can get caught up in thinking that the reason we're experiencing something is because we did something wrong, or because this is punishment, or God doesn't really see me, or I'm not really um, I'm not moving forward in life. I'm not, I'm not uh going towards my goals or gaining momentum in life towards my goals. And taking the time to really center yourself and balance yourself allows you to see things as they really are and to see where God is sitting in your situation and to see where that that God's plan for you never changed, right? Mr. Miyagi's plan to get him to the tournament and to get him, you know. Mr. Miyagi didn't go into that tournament saying, Oh yeah, he's about to win the whole thing. You know what I'm saying? The balance was look at who you became in the process.

SPEAKER_02 1:11:12

That's correct.

SPEAKER_00 1:11:13

You have earned their respect just because you made it here.

SPEAKER_02 1:11:16

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 1:11:17

Right? It's win or win or lose, whether or not you get what you think you were supposed to get, you've already won because you've already you've already persevered past the person that you were.

SPEAKER_02 1:11:30

That's right.

SPEAKER_00 1:11:31

And I think that uh a big piece of that was Daniel learning what he's what I said he didn't have in the beginning of the movie. And that was full awareness, the ability to really see what's lying beneath the surface.

SPEAKER_02 1:11:47

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 1:11:47

And his connection with Mr. Miyagi gave him that, the ability to, the ability to see, even in that last battle, it wasn't about if if he won, right? Him winning was, you know, it was beautiful and everything because he was on that broken foot. That's right. Or that broken leg, right? Because they was playing dirty.

unknown 1:12:08

Right.

SPEAKER_00 1:12:09

That's right. Don't and don't ever assume just because somebody looks like they're better than you, their bad training will never match up to the good training that you submitted yourself to. That's right. Those are not a one-to-one ratio, but in the end, it became less about him winning and more about him standing up to the people that had once taken him down. And that's why he earned their respect. Um, I promised I was gonna read the scripture, so can we close on the scripture? Oh, let's do it. All right, we're going to 2 Corinthians, the fourth chapter. Um, technically, the scripture I was talking about begins at verse 8, but I'm gonna begin at verse 7 because it's my favorite verse in the whole wide world. It says, But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellency of the power may be of God and not of us. We are troubled on every side, yet not distressed. We are perplexed but not in despair, persecuted but not forsaken, cast down but not destroyed, always bearing about in the body the dying of the Lord Jesus, that the life also of Jesus might be made manifest in our body. Amen.

SPEAKER_02 1:13:22

Well, amen. Well, amen. Amen. Amen, people, amen. Hey, thank you. All right, okay, all right, all right, all right. We're gonna end this before Quita goes to a place that uh is gonna bother me more. All right, guys. Um, thank y'all for joining. We uh hope that you enjoyed this conversation around the karate kid. And until next week, let's keep unlearn it together so that we can experience more freedom. Peace. Thank you once again for listening to the Unlearned Podcast. We would love to hear your comments and your feedback about the episode. Feel free to follow us on Facebook and Instagram and to let us know what you think. We're looking forward to the next time when we are able to unlearn together to move forward towards freedom. See you then.