Scott Sonnon: The Flow Coach

Don’t Cheat and hope it’ll Work.

Two knights stood before the king, his most competent warriors. The king asked a servant to retrieve his two prized dogs, the two mascots of the castle, loved and adored by the people for their beautiful, intelligent nature. The king handed one dog to each knight, and said, “I want you to prove your loyalty to me. Each of you take one of my beloved hounds to a place where no one can see you, and kill them.” Both knights exited.

When they returned, one knight was carrying a bag, the other leading a dog on its leash. The first knight announced that he had found a cave and killed the dog, carrying him back in the bag. The king looked at the other and at his still living dog, to which the knight replied, “I took the dog everywhere, but there was always someone watching: me.” The king gave the job of guardian of the realm to him, for staying true even when commanded not to.

Many years ago, someone urged me to hook up with a girl while in a different country, since no one would ever know. I replied, “Firstly, you know I’m married. Secondly, I would always know that I had cheated on my wife.” He replied that my conscience was my weakness and preventing me “from living a little”. I told him that I preferred to “live a lot.” Aside from love, aside from honor, though they be reasons enough, there is another reason that I choose to remain true to my word: growth.

Relationship is like food. They believe because they CAN taste as much as possible that they SHOULD “experience” as much variety as they can. I’ve definitely tasted a lot of different dishes over my life. I could certainly cram my face with delicacies, sweets and decadent exotic flavors, but I prefer not to wake up in the morning feeling like crap, damage my training, my work, and the entire flow my life. I know what allows me to thrive in my lifestyle, grow as a person and feel great every day. I prefer my healthy nutritious meals over fast food.

I once had an opponent shake my hand before a match and say for the entire audience to hear, “I know you have only had one coach Sonnon, so just want to warn you now, I’ve had 22 martial art instructors.” He was knee barred in the first minute. I shook his hand and as I was walking off the mat, my girlfriend yelled over to him, “FUNNY, ONE WAS ENOUGH!” My face flushed a bit, because I’m not a fan of talking smack, as it generally never produces a positive effect… except in this case, as he later came over an apologized, and even became one of my coach’s most consistent students.

For me, relationships are like martial art. There’s so much to be learned from going deep into that one. Being distracted by perusing many amounts to reading the first chapter of 22 books. You read a lot, but never get the true depth of plot, character development, climax, twists, et cetera.

very respectfully,
Scott Sonnon
www.facebook.com/scottsonnon