Don’t Sit Under the Apple Tree

With the economy around the world in such a terrible state, stress is reaching higher levels than ever before. In these stressful times, crime rates rise and discipline fails. But that is when we must be strongest.

Now is a great time to join a health club, take a dance class, or start learning a martial art. Physical exertion is a stress reliever, especially the martial arts. Martial arts like Tae Kwon Do bring you new focus, new energy. They increase your discipline and boost your confidence. They make you healthier, inside and out. After an hour long TKD class, your stress will melt away, making you calmer and more at peace within yourself.

Yes, times are bad right now in the world. Companies we have known and trusted for years are folding under the pressure of a crumbling stock market. Citizens watch as their retirement accounts shrink and shrink, their house values plummet. Stress is everywhere you look. But it is in these times that we must buckle down and do our best to get through it. It is these times that make us stronger.

We must work hard for what we are earning. We cannot sit beneath the apple tree with our mouths open, waiting for the apples to fall for us and feed us. We must climb the tree and pick as many apples as we can, working hard to reap the fruit of our labors. If you never have to work for anything, you do not appreciate how you achieved it. If something is just handed to you, then you have no sense of accomplishment, take no pride in your earnings. But if you work hard and earn what you achieve, you can be proud of what you have done. You know that you are a success because of what YOU have done, not because something was handed to you.

That same message goes for our environment. For far too long, we have been wasteful as citizens of the world, reeking havoc on the planet. We have too much waste, too much garbage, use too much oil and other non-renewable resources. It is time to say that too much is enough. We must be conservative in our treatment of our world. We must make as little waste as possible, reusing and renewing wherever we can.

Conservation and hard work are the keys to surviving this economic crisis. If we are conservative with our planet, we will have more years for our children, our grandchildren. If we control our unnecessary expenses, we will be able to afford our necessities. And if you start training in the martial arts, as so many of us have, then you will find an inner peace amidst the chaos of the world outside.