Sammy Lee: The Life and Achievements

"Don't think. FEEEEEEEEL! It's like a finger pointing away to the moon. Do not concentrate on the finger or you will miss all of the heavenly glory!" In this scene from Enter the Dragon, Bruce is teaching his student about the importance of staying fully present in the moment. If you just concentrate on the finger, you'll miss the glorious experience of the moon. We often take ourselves out of a moment we are experiencing for many reasons—to analyze it, to think about it, or document it. Even when we pause to take a picture of a beautiful sunset, we have to leave the moment of experiencing that sunset to take the picture. When we do this, we lose the feeling of the moment. "There's too much tendency to look inward at one's moods and to try and evaluate them, to stand on the outside and try to look inside is futile. It's like turning on a light to look at darkness. Analyze it and it's gone." "Feeling exists here and now when not interrupted and dissected by ideas or concepts. The moment we stop analyzing and let go we can start really seeing, feeling as one whole." An important part of the lesson Bruce is giving in this scene is about the process of relating, being in relationship with the whole thing, not isolated. "To know oneself is to study oneself in action with another person, relationship is a process of self-revelation, relationship is the mirror in which you discover yourself. To be is to be related." "To live is a constant process of relating, so come out of that shell of isolation and conclusion, and relate directly to what is being said." So many of us are hungering for a connection, even if we don't know to articulate it. What's driving a lot of the pain in the world is viewing people or the planet as separate from us or as the "other." "The primary reality is not what I think, but what I live." "I do not experience, I am experience, I am awareness." Bruce Lee was living in the present moment all the time. Take Action: Take note when you pull away from an experience to analyze it or try to hold onto it. When you feel the connectedness or excitement of the moment, instead of pulling away just be with it. Compare this feeling to when you pull away and document or think about the moment. Another practice is to have a moment of silence when you feel that connected experience to stay in the moment. #AAHA This week our #AAHA shout-out goes to Sammy Lee, the first Asian American man to win Olympic gold and the first American man to win two consecutive golds in platform diving. Sammy Lee was named to US Olympic Hall of Fame in 1990. Lee was also a physician and served in the US Army Medical Corps in South Korea and coached several Olympian divers. He learned to dive at a public pool in Pasadena, but was only allowed to go on Wednesdays, the only day Latinos, Asians, and African Americans were allowed to use the pool. Then the pool was drained and refilled with clean water. Even after becoming an Olympian, Lee continued to face discrimination, including being told he could not buy a house in a certain neighborhood. Sammy Lee Square is named after him in Koreatown, he has a spot on the Anaheim Walk of Stars, and an elementary school named after him. Sammy Lee, we honor you and think you're awesome! #BruceLeeMoment This week our #BruceLeeMoment comes from Kristy, read more at brucelee.com/podcast: "Being keen to journal, I previously wrote down my bigger 'why' or purpose and steps to achieving what I most desired. However, I noticed, there it was again…that striver giving me plans, actions, strategies to be better - to become perfect! So, instead after your podcast I decided to revisit my why, and come up with my own affirmations and anchors back to stillness when my mind becomes noisy, not to become perfect, but instead to simply acknowledge and celebrate who I am." Share your #AAHA and #BruceLeeMoment recommendations or your #ActionItem progress with us via social media @BruceLee or email us at hello@brucelee.com