Electric Tape

 October 2012

In taekwondo, at least at the one my children attend,  you have to go through stages before you can earn a different color belt.  It starts with white belt then yellow belt then orange etc all the way up to black belt.  With each belt you have to earn four black stripes and then a final red stripe before you can test for the next color.

The stripes are given by the Kwan-jang-nim, master, (and yes I am showing off by using that word).  The funny thing is that these stripes are just strips of electric tape ripped right off the roll and taped around the belt.  But if you could see the way my children's eyes light up each time they earn one you would think it was a gold medal and that the national anthem was about to be played.

It got me thinking about how very little we need to be motivated.  Isn't it amazing how a simple acknowledgement of a job well done can impact our whole day?  Can you think of the last time you have had "the black stripe of success" placed on your belt and how it felt for you?  

Obviously we can't walk around asking people to put electric tape on us or put it on others for that matter.  But we can try to examine what we define as our black stripes.  We can identify goals that we would like to achieve and determine appropriate "stripes" for achieving them.  We can also give ourselves those stripes instead of waiting to be noticed.  Give yourself credit for who you are and what you do. 

A snow ball usually starts as a pebble.  So why not pay attention to the things you are doing well and get your pebble of self acknowledgement rolling and see what happens.