「'We leave the morning to hope, live by day to strive, and sleep by night to be thankful. Cherish each day, one day at a time.”
While I was window shopping in Osaka a few days ago, I was attracted by these words posted in front of a temple on one of the streets that I passed.
日本語はこちら
In this day and age, there are people who work the night shift and cannot be as active as these words suggest. But even for those who live on a different time schedule, it is still possible to wake up with hope for the day ahead, living that day to the fullest, and going to sleep feeling gratitude for the blessings from nature and the people involved in making this day possible. This mental attitude can fill our hearts with happiness.
Because of the impact that these words had on me, in last night's practice I explained the following ideas to my students:
When things don’t go the way you wanted them to go, do you take it negatively and get angry and frustrated? Or do you think, “I realized something thanks to that experience, and I was able to do this. I am able to do this because of that experience.”? I told them that it is up to them whether they see the events of each day positively or negatively.
Not everything will turn out the way you want it to. If everything went the way you wanted it to, it would be a very boring life. I believe that it is through overcoming difficulties and trials that we learn and grow as a result of our experiences. And because they have overcome those difficulties and trials, they can feel a sense of accomplishment. However, there are many people around the world who are exposed to ordeals that they do not have to go through, and they are unable to escape from those environments. These can be related to their surrounding environment, financial problems, illnesses, relationships, and many other things. Such people still need outside support, but perhaps the support for their survival is to hold on to a ray of hope in the midst of their hopeless ordeal.
A very long time ago during the Edo era, Japanese people would say, “It can't be helped,” even as they watched laughing while their houses burned down. “We can build another one,” was their underlying belief, and because of this, they could simply watch and laugh. Today, it is very difficult financially to rebuild, so I think that no one would just sit back laughing as they watched their house burning down. But just being prepared for the possibility that your house could burn down will make a difference in the amount of psychological damage that something like this would inflict.
I think it is important to have the mindset that “everything is not as it should be, even if things don't go your way.” In the martial arts, it is natural to assume that the techniques your opponent will use will be different from what you expected, and we must learn various techniques for different situations. Even so, unexpected things will happen. If you are prepared for such situations, you can deal with them with a “calm readiness,” rather than collapsing under the stress and strain that the unexpected brings.
It is precisely because we have this “readiness” that we are able to live each and every day as I wrote at the beginning of this article.
I believe that this is the happiest way to live: “In the morning, live with hope, in the afternoon, live with effort, and at night, sleep with gratitude,” and hope that you will be able to practice this approach from today.
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