Daily Yamabushi

Because what’s the alternative?

There are a lot of things you should pride yourself on. Actually, the majority of things you do should fit into that category. Pride shows you are putting your whole self into it, your whole heart. Pride shows that you care.

Priding yourself doesn’t mean you have to be proud. But it does mean you have to give it your best.

Because what’s the alternative?

Be kind

I’ve said it once and I’ll say it again, that we exist is nothing short of a miracle. If any one of our ancestors didn’t exist, neither would we. That means if even one of our ancestors didn’t take the time and effort to look after their own children, likewise we wouldn’t exist.

Be kind. The world’s too rough a place not to want to help each other.

When you need to

The best way to go the other direction in a car is to spin it around, not stop and slowly turn the thing around. Momentum, even going the wrong way, can be used to great effect. Use it if you need to.

If you don’t do it now, you never will

It’s cliche. I know. But it’s so true. All of these plans but no plans to do them, that’s no good. If something should be a priority, make it so. There’s no other way around it. It’s now, or never. It’s now, or not at all. How do you feel about a world where this idea doesn’t exist? Or a world where you don’t even try to make it a reality?

Now or never.

Isn’t for leaders

When we’re young, we’re taught to draw between the lines. When we can do that, we’re taught to draw the lines. But in order to create something new, in order to lead, we need to forget the lines even exist in the first place.

Drawing between the lines is for toddlers. It’s not for leaders.

Something to hold on to

It’s good that if you even have a reference point. Something to be thankful to have your mind on.

If you don’t have a reference point, I wouldn’t worry. It just means you never knew any better, or anything else for that matter.

Where you should be looking

The fool sees the mountain, and looks toward the summit.

The wise one sees the mountain, and looks towards the step in front of them.

Start small. But start. Don’t get overwhelmed by the challenge. Find the next smallest thing that can be done, and do it.

The summit is always going to be there. The next step may not be so obvious, but it is always easier to find when you look right in front of you.

Let it flow

Let it flow. When there’s a dam, look for a way past, or bust your way through. And if that doesn’t work, so be it. It doesn’t work. There’s bound to be a levy somewhere that lets the water through.

What’s the alternative?

Sometimes you have such misfortune all you can do is laugh at the absurdity of it all. You question why these things had to happen at all, and why they had to happen to you of all people.

That’s just the way it is. Sure, there could be an alternative reality where these misfortunes don’t exist. But is that your reality?

Think long and hard enough and the answer is the same. It is what it is. No need to get worked up about what could have been. Just focus on your current reality. After all, what’s the alternative?

Practice humility and gratitude

Making the most of a bad situation is a good thing, but so is making the most of a good situation. When we have it good it is very easy to become complacent. It’s also very easy to think ‘this won’t last forever’. That’s why putting your focus on enjoying the current moment is so important, whether that moment is ‘good’ or ‘bad’.

We have so much to be thankful for. That we exist is a miracle. That I can write this on a supercomputer that fits in my hand and then send it all over the world.

That’s insane.

Sure, things might not be ideal. And they may not be what we pictured at all. But they are what they are, and we have to remember to be grateful that they are in the first place. That’s called making the most of a good situation.

Then change it if you have to

Force the idea out. Change it once it’s out. The opposite will never work. Just get it out.

If you’re going to be ready, get ready

If you’re going to be ready, you might as well get as ready as possible. Just like plasters in a first aid kit. Having plasters in your first aid kit is a good thing, they definitely come in handy. But to really make them handy, take them out of the box too.

You know you have to find a way to do that

The things that inspire us, nag at us until we get them done.

You have a thought that nags at you. It’s a thought that, even after a whole lot of time, you can’t get out of your mind. Even if you don’t know exactly how to get this thought into action, you have to find a way. It could be through other people, and if the thought is that strong, well, you will have to go through other people. That’s the only way to let your inspiration take flight. Don’t let it nag at you. Let it inspire you.

Exponentially if you do it right

Even tiny actions, repeated enough, can have huge repercussions. All you need is a tiny amount of energy and a regular interval in which to complete it, then before you know it, you’ve built something extraordinary from something that’s not. And all you have to do is keep it up.

What is the purpose for all the toil and trouble?

What is the desired result of all the toil and bother? Is the current route going to get you there? If not, when are you going to change tack? What is the end game? If the end game is the current path, then yes by all means stay on it. If not, well, what are you going to do about it?

And what to do

Once yamabushi training ends, the real training begins: real life. So when something huge happens in your life, you’re facing the real real training. Fortunately, you have your time on the mountains to look back to. There is a space in the mountains that, if you focus your mind on for even a mere millisecond, you can be taken back to. A place where no one can reach you. Your own nirvana deep in the recesses of the mind-mountain.

When the real real training begins, that’s exactly where you go. Stay there for as long as you feel necessary, then step back into the real training.

What Else But

A function of:

Passion.

Pride.

Compassion.

Grit.

Persistence.

Love.

Better Style or Style Intact?

The copy editor goes through with a red pen to cut out any redundancies and help define your style. The translation checker goes through with a red pen to replace any inconsistencies leaving your style intact.

Two very similar jobs, two completely different mindsets.

The appropriate mindset depends on the circumstances. Either way, both in your arsenal is a great place to be. Choose what works for you.

Remove it

Take away the temptation. Remove it. It’s unnecessary. Don’t even think about having it in the first place.

Easier said than done. But where it is possible, it should be done. After all, the temptation is just an unnecessary addition.

How you fall is how you’re able to get back up

I did a rudimentary course in Ninjutsu many years ago. It was so long ago I can’t remember very much at all, but one thing I clearly remember is that we practiced falling properly. If you’re going to take a hit, being able to ‘roll it off’ essentially, means you are that much more ready to get back on your feet. You let the rolling motion and gravity remove a lot of the hit, so you can get back up and back at it in one motion. Do that right, and you start to not fear falling any more.

You relax. I relax.

If you want someone to panic, well there are a ton of ways you can do that. If you want someone to calm down though, there’s only really one way to go about it.

Calm people beget calm people.

As we should

Problems can only be solved when they arise. And they should only be solved when they arise. Trying to solve problems too early leads to the unpredictable getting in the way unnecessarily. Similarly, putting off solving solvable problems only leads to complications down the line.

Worry about things when we should worry about them. At all other times, don’t give them the light of day.

We can work it out when we can work it out. As we should.

Down, but not out

Sometimes there is no better word for it. Sometimes you are just beaten to the punch.

That’s just life.

Roll with the punches. Better yet, let them empower you. Use them as fuel to do something you’ve never done before.

Defeated may mean, yes, you are out of the game. But that doesn’t mean you can’t start another.

Relax

The plane is going to the destination. You can will it faster all you like, it won’t make a difference. What will make a difference is staying calm, and letting the plane do its thing.

Watch your state of mind

Your posture is one of the biggest clues of your state of mind. Your state of mind is one of the biggest clues of your posture. If you notice your posture starting to worsen, fix it. Take the effort to sit up or stand up straight, as this has positive repercussions on your state of mind. It’s the simple things like this that make a huge difference when you’re dealing with something heavy. Looking after yourself in troubling times could be as easy as fixing your posture. Fancy that.

If, not when.

Spare your brain’s bandwidth. Think about things if they come up, if it comes to it. If it doesn’t, you haven’t wasted any energy. You’ve spared your brain some much-needed bandwidth.

If it comes to it. Not when. Anything else is superfluous.

Making something from nothing

I know I’m big on doing things you feel like doing in the moment, as that’s how you follow what your soul is telling you. At least, this is a yamabushi take. Sometimes, this doing something means doing nothing. If you get the sense that letting the situation sort itself out is the right thing to do, then doing nothing is the right thing to do. It’s true, you may just be getting lazy, or worse, you may be giving into the Resistance. But either way, it’s good to have the option up your sleeve.

Don’t simply accept

Seth Godin is famous for pushing us not to ship for the sake of it, but to merely ship as a fight against perfectionism.

By the same token, if something isn’t quite right, it doesn’t mean you simply accept it. You merely accept it. You can change it so it fits your circumstances as much as reasonable before you have to accept it. You’re allowed to make it bearable, in other words.

Watch them if you must

Let them play their games. Watch them if you must. Sit there and bask in the wisdom that you don’t need to take part. The game is most certainly there, but so is the option not to play.

In any pursuit

I’m thinking swimming here, but this philosophy can apply to many other pursuits.

First , focus on doing it non-stop. Go slow enough that you can do that, then increase the time you can. After that, it’s a matter of building on your technique to increase efficiency. And that’s it. From then on, that’s all you’re working on. Building efficiency, and working to go longer.

The non-stop part is easily overlooked. You need to know what it feels like to do the thing for that length of time. But once you do, all that’s left is doing the thing, and focusing on those 1% incremental gains.