Lanakila

Welina me ke aloha iā kākou a pau! Today's Hawaiian word to ponder and apply is lanakila, which means triumph, victory, to win, beat, overcome. Ua lanakila au. I won. E lanakila ana 'o ia. He or she is going to win. When we look closer at this word we find that it also means to conquer and to outwit. Warriors of old trained for battle. They went through physical rigor, but just as important was the mental and spiritual training and preparation. When Kamehameha came to Maui to fight the Battle of Kepaniwai, he didn't just bring with him brut and brawn, he was planful in his preparation and even strategic. He pushed our Maui forces back into the valley of 'Iao using muscle and force, but he strategically planned to use modern weaponry and modern ammunition to surprise the Maui forces and to lanakila, conquer. So it is with us in life. We may have physical battles we must fight and this requires us to ho'oikaika, strengthen ourselves physically for the battle. There are times when we must fight battles using our intellect, being creative in our strategy and like Kamehameha, planful in our preparation. Just as the word lanakila has subtle differences in meaning, we can use different strategies, different approaches when we need to lanakila, be victorious in any of the battles we are facing. This can especially apply to our children. How do we win them over, how do we outwit them, how can we be victorious as parents. We'll talk more about that tomorrow. Aloha nō, a hui hou.

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