Daily Yamabushi

Nothing is permanent

Nothing, but everything, changes. Nothing is permanent, but change. Accept it and move on. No point dwelling on the past that doesn’t exist. Likewise no point worrying about a future that hasn’t come about yet. Just accept that nothing, but everything, changes, and focus on enjoying the now.

Just make your lane bigger

By all means stay in your lane. But remember, it doesn’t mean you can’t make your lane bigger.

In your wardrobe. In your head.

Wherever the junk is taking up space, get rid of it. No need to keep it hanging around. If you really needed it, you’ll find a way to replace it. Claim the space back. In your wardrobe. In your head.

Either for you, or someone else

Life-changing stuff is what you put your life into. Either providing it, or living it. Anything else is just noise.

Sharing it.

True happiness is shared happiness.

You can be as content as a doorknob, but to be truly content, that contentedness has to be shared with someone.

In terms of return on investment, investing in your relationships has to be up the top of the list for this reason alone.

Make an extra effort to maintain your relationships. Make an extra effort to spend time with the people you care about. When it comes time to feel happy, they all but multiply your happiness.

* this was inspired by a comment shared at an event I was at today

Having a default relieves the burden

It helps to have a default like Uketamo. Whatever happens, you already know your response. When it does happen, you don’t even have to think about it, Uketamo happens on autopilot. With Uketamo up your sleeve, it’s much easier to go about your day without the worry of potential pitfalls or problems.

Uketamo. Make it your default.

See where it takes us

This is me doing the thing. This is me putting the words into action. The thing doesn’t do itself. The thing needs action to have any chance of getting done, to have any chance of survival. Do the thing. See where it takes you.

Responding in Kind

It’s easy to respond in kind to negative people, but it doesn’t have to be that way. And in fact, you should avoid it if at all possible.

Don’t respond in kind. Respond kindly. You may just find the person isn’t a negative person, but rather they were just having a bad day. Then when it comes time for that person to reciprocate, they will be more inclined to respond in kind. Which ‘in kind’ to you prefer?

Recalibrate until you’re over it

There’s nothing worse than catching yourself being busy being busy. Being busy being busy is a surefire way to make yourself disappointed in yourself. Take a moment to let it sink in, and recalibrate, until you can no longer say you are being busy being busy. Importantly, don’t blame yourself or be too hard on yourself if you find yourself in that situation. Just get on with what really needs doing, as that’s the stuff that will push things forward.

So leave it at that.

If you’ve decided something is more trouble than it’s worth, leave it at that. At times it can be hard to let go of things like this, they just seem to keep rearing their ugly head, but tell yourself that once you’ve made the decision, the decision is made, and that dictates how much extra effort you give to it.

None. You’ve already decided it’s more trouble than it’s worth. Leave it at that.

Is usually (always) the answer

Still searching? Looking for the answers? You need to train more. You need more time in the saddle, more time doing the real thing. Then the answers will come. And if they don’t, the training brings with it perspective that is better than the answer.

Not enough Shugyo is usually (always) the answer.

What ifs block the path to Uketamo

What ifs are useless when it comes to Uketamo. What if I had done this, what if I had done that? What if I do this? What if I do that?

Irrelevant. What ifs block the path to acceptance, the path to Uketamo. They bring you no closer to accepting the current situation for what it is. In fact, they take you further away.

What if I did this? What if I did that? What if I do this? What if I do that?

Exactly.

Be careful what you compare for

Be careful who you compare yourself to. Are they even worthy of comparison? If they are the best in the world, I guess, maybe. But what if you are the best in the world? Who are you going to compare yourself to then? Is comparing yourself to others going to get you any better? Best not compare yourself to anyone but your former self. And even then, it’s your former self. You know better than them now. It’s helpful in seeing your progress to date, and getting encouragement from that, but anything beyond that is far from an ideal comparison .

Everything else is secondary

Size matters for sure in sumo, but so does technique. You can work on getting a bigger body, but the wrong technique will take you all the way back to square one. Work on your technique. Anything else is secondary.

It doesn’t care either which way

If you’ve been using AI but have been encountering trouble like I have, and then consequently getting angry at it, think about what you are doing. AI is highly advanced technology, but it has no feelings. It doesn’t care whether you follow the instructions correctly or not. If you get angry at it, it’s still just going to turn up the next day as if nothing happened. Every. Single. Day.

And that’s the trick. Part of acceptance, part of Uketamo, is forgetting what happened before, and not caring about what will happen. Then, stopping to accept the moment for what it is, emotions or otherwise. If we can learn to do that, if we can be like an AI with deep knowledge but with zero care for what does or does not happen, we will be forever stronger.

Now, I’m not suggesting we do this in interactions with other humans. Although, I do think there are cases it can be healthy, or otherwise unhealthy not to. Something to bear in mind.

Whatever that means to you

Sizable chunks. Sizable steps. Not just in terms of distance or strength, but ability too. If you can only maintain your top speed for ten seconds, then ten seconds is all you need. Put things in sizable chunks, whatever that mans got you. Then it’s just a matter of chaining your efforts.

Flip it on its head

That’s the key. That’s how you learn to love learning. You don’t love the studying aspect of it, no one does. But the things you can learn? That’s a different story. Focus on that. Focus on what you have to gain, not what you have to do to learn it. Focus on the fun that comes from that.

I hate studying. But I love learning. Flip it on its head.

Being the bigger person

There’s no need to stay in the same lane. Ever. Others can either accept that and get out of your way, or accept that and see you say goodbye.

If you stay in the same lane as someone else, you’ll go to the same place. The only way to change things up is to change lanes.

And equally, if someone bothers you, all you have to do is change lanes.

On conscious consumption

Is it something you could see yourself sitting down and dedicating more than an hour to? Without any other distractions (no double devices)?

If yes, by all means consume it.

If no, does it need to be on?

Time that demands respect

If you’re to get better, you need to give it your best shot. Practice is just that. Not a time to muck around, but time to get better. And as such, that time that demands your respect. Are you making the most of your practice time? Are you using it to actually get better?

Gets better with more input

The more you input, the better it gets. At first the playlist is random, only some of the songs are good. And then it gets to know you a bit better and the songs get better. Soon, only good songs remain. But only with your sustained input.

The answer is less. Not more.

At times, the delete button is your best friend. Physical things, ideas, what have you, we often grow attached to things completely unreasonably. More often than not the answer isn’t more, it’s cutting down the excess. It’s the delete button. If you really needed it in the first place, you’d find a way to get it back.

See what sticks

Throw it at the wall to see what sticks. Take what sticks, and throw it at the wall. Rinse and repeat.

Better make them good ones

We are all creatures of habit. We all follow patterns laid out for ourselves by ourselves. Sure others may have an impact on our patterns too, but ultimately, we are the ones who walk the path. We are the creatures of habit. If we want to make a good run of it, well, we better make them good habits.

No action, no story

It can be hard when you’re in the midst of things. It can truly feel like the world has come down on you all at once. But these things will settle as they always do. And by then, well, you’ll have a story to fall back on. You’ll have the benefit of hindsight to rely upon.

At least now you have a story. At least now you have one of the most powerful tools known to man to make things better for the next guy.

The Rest is Uketamo

When the ball is in the other court, you really have nothing to worry about. It’s not your turn to worry about things, and anything you do worry about is only hypothetical at that stage. If the ball is in the other court, the rest is just Uketamo.

Always err on the side of generosity

The world is full of unhelpful things and unhelpful situations. If you have the ability to be generous, you should.

If in doubt, think what is the generous answer? What would it mean to be more generous? Just be generous.

Starts today

Things can always be better. Make them so. Start the virtuous cycle today. Get the ball rolling. Do what you have to do to make it so. Whatever it takes.

Even if you can’t make the time

Even if you can’t make it in time, you at least need to go the distance. Triathlons and other long-distance events aren’t so much about the time. That’s only really true if you’re an elite athlete, or if you’re going for a PB. For everyone else, simply going the distance is the real aim.

Even if it takes you much longer than expected, at the very least, go the distance. You’ll be that much closer to getting your wanted time next time.

Health is wealth

Work is a form of investment. Working on your health is too. Both deserve priority.

Work isn’t done for the sake of it. Work is done to invest in your future. Even if you aren’t doing it for the money, you’re still investing in your future. Those not working for the money more often than not are doing it for their mental or physical health. Working on your mental or physical health is also an investment in the future, so it’s ok if this comes into ‘work’ time. You don’t need to beat yourself up if you start to think otherwise, and you definitely shouldn’t worry about what other people think. They’re probably jealous that they don’t take enough time for themselves to invest in their mental or physical wellbeing.

Remember, health is wealth. A healthy man wants many things. A sick man wants but one.