The book “The Ultimate Coach” has been the most influencial book I have ever read. I wrote a short article about how I found the book and why it has been so influential to me. If you aren’t familiar with the book, please read THIS article first.
The book, “The Ultimate Coach”, and who Steve & Amy Hardison are as human beings, moved me so much that one morning I awoke to a voice that said, “Translate the book for Japanese people. Even if only 1,000 people are moved as deeply by it as you are, it will be a true gift to each of them and the people they touch.” When I hear THAT voice, which has a completely different quality than the chattering voice that goes on about petty things, I always take immediate action on what it says. So immediately, I got out of bed and sent Steve Hardison a message to ask him if he would let me translate “The Ultimate Coach”. He said I would have to talk with his wife, Amy Hardison, as she had written the book and was in charge of it. So I corresponded with Amy who gave me her blessing to translate “The Ultimate Coach ” in Japanese.
A few days after this initial communication with Steve and Amy about the book, Steve introduced Gary Mahler, who also lives in Tokyo, in an email. Gary is a world-class coach and a brilliant human being. You can learn more about him HERE. Several days later Gary came to my home, and we sat on the 8F roof of my apartment building overlooking Tokyo. Mostly we sat together in silence and he occasionally asked me questions about my life. I loved the connection I felt with him and how there was more silence than speaking in our communication. Over the past few months, Gary and I have met nearly weekly and every time I meet him, I feel a quickening in the direction of my ideal self.
Gary reminded me of the amazing opportunity I have to read and translate “The Ultimate Coach” word by word, reading it about me (this is a unique request made by Steve when reading the book, you don’t read it about him, you read it as if you were him.). So thanks to Gary, when I sit down to translate, I read the back cover and the first two pages (another unique way Steve requests we read the book) in Japanese, then proceed translating. My experience of translating the book since, has never been the same. I am moved to a much deeper level now.
Steve Hardison is unique in so many ways. The way he speaks to people and about people is extraordinary. One of the unique ways he expresses his love to others in emails, social media posts and in his book is that he signs off with the words, ‘Loving you. Be Blessed.’ In order to translate ‘Loving you. Be Blessed.’ into Japanese, I first needed to understand it in English.
In Japanese culture, verbal expressions of ‘love’ are less frequent compared to western culture. Some married couples have told me that they have never said “I love you” to each other. ‘Aishite iru’ is the literal translation for ‘I Love You’. ‘Suki’ or ‘Daisuki’ literally means “like” or “really like” and this is used more often to verbally express love.
‘Blessing’ also has many translations in Japanese, the most common being the noun ‘megumi’, which is used in daily spoken language. The passive verb form of ‘megumi’ is ‘megumarete iru’ which means ‘being blessed’ with connotations of ‘blessed with great genes’ (good-looking) or ‘financially blessed’ (rich). ‘Shukufuku sarete iru’ also means ‘being blessed’ but has a more formal, religious feel.
My strong desire to bridge this ‘love’ and ‘blessing’ gap between English and Japanese had me reach out to Steve and this is what he shared with me.
Steve said, ‘Loving you’ means ‘I love you,’ and ‘Loving you.’ conveys a nuanced message. It’s like saying ‘Beautiful you!’ or ‘Powerful you!’ or ‘Handsome you!’ It’s the state of being you are: ‘Loving You’ refers to the you that is loving. It serves as an identification of who you are, much like saying ‘a loving person.’”
He then shared this: “Be Blessed. The meaning of ‘Blessed’ is someone that is holy, divine, taken care of, or gifted. ‘Be divine.’ ‘Be gifted.’ ‘Be a receiver.’ ‘Be loved.’” When he says, ‘Be blessed’ he is sending a blessing to that person. What he means is ‘Be blessed’, ‘Be happy’, ‘Be peaceful’, ‘Be you’.
Every time Steve signs off with ‘Loving you. Be blessed,’ those words and thoughts pass through him first. Therefore, he is expressing love and blessings to others, but ultimately, he is also loving and blessing himself through the messages he sends.
What a brilliant and beautiful way to love and bless the world while loving and blessing ourselves!!
Loving you. Be Blessed.
Bodhi