Musashi's Dokkodo (The Way of Walking Alone)

Insurance Executive:
This depends on the subject.
I prefer not to step onto the freeway during rush hour, or at any time
for that matter. I prefer not to go skydiving after Edward
Scissorhands has packed the parachute.
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But in other things, I try
to evaluate the reasons and potential ramifications behind my
preferences. Here are some examples:
When there are two apples in a bowl, my preference is for the big
juicy one over the one with bruises and wrinkles. But if I take it, it
would mean my husband would be left with the sad-looking one. So I
take the lesser apple and chomp around the brown spots. While my
preference is for the better one, my final choice makes my husband
happy and, ultimately by choosing to do something good for him and
sacrificing only a little, I feel good about myself too.
In my martial arts class, I prefer to work with Adam because as a
long-time student, his movements are fast and strong, his precision
is flawless, and his amazing skill brings out my best. But sometimes I
choose Sara. Although she has been training for two years, her
coordination is quite bad and her control is poor. In this case, my
preference is to do what I can to help a student who needs all the
help she can get. To be honest, however, there are two rather self-
serving reasons I like to train with her. It makes me feel good about
myself to see how my teaching method—one of giving lots of
positive feedback as opposed to always pointing out errors—makes
her excel. I also want to train with her because her awkwardness

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and the unpredictability of her choices when attacking and
countering, keep me on my toes, and ultimately helps me improve
me skills too.
Another area where I try to monitor my preferences, or lack thereof,
is in my work as a claims adjuster for a major insurance company. I
never, and I mean never, prefer one customer over another based on
age, race, or sexual orientation. I strive to give every person 100
percent of my best work to make what can be a difficult and red
tape-strewn process easier for them. Okay, maybe I do have a
preference against one type of customer—one I prefer to give a hard
time. I like to give those people who try to defraud the system—i.e.,
steal money and services by filing false claims—a difficult time with a
preferred goal of sending them before a judge.
While I understand that having no preference in things is ideal, I
would argue its implementation is next to impossible, which only
means I should try harder. My approach is to monitor my preferences
and strive to make choices that benefit my loved ones, other people,
and me, and try to do it in that order as much as possible. Hard to
do? Oh yes…
Like so many of Musashi’s precepts, the task of following this one
isn’t easy but that simply means we must try harder to do the best
we can. In the matter of preferences, when our choices favor
ourselves, or one group of people over another group, it’s simply
wrong. Sometimes a preference might not be overt but rather subtle,
such as having a preference for one of our children over another,
one parent over the other, or even one friend over another. While
these feelings might be impossible to avoid, it is imperative that we
strive to never, ever, allow them to be apparent.