How Do YOU Make This Line Shorter?

 Tomorrow is not promised to anyone, even the next moment is not guaranteed.

‘I will do it tomorrow’ is an empty statement based on the assumption that a person will wake up the following day.

Lack of proper perspective prevents many things and lack of follow-through stops everything in its’ tracks ensuring that nothing ever gets done.

Sensei, in the process of teaching something new, used to say ‘just do it, even if it is wrong, do it without a second thought,’ the correction would soon follow, but the follow-through to the completion of the intent was the most important thing... Never do anything half-assed, never leave anything incomplete.

Be present, fully, in everything that is done and see it through to the end regardless of the difficulty, even in the face of death.

Death is the ultimate certainty for everyone, no matter what you do, you are going to die, so in everything that is done, do it well, to it with your whole being, and do it completely.

This moment, right now, is all that we really have. Yesterday is gone and ‘tomorrow’ is a dream that may or may not be granted.

That line of intent that turns into a strike or something else is here one minute and morphing into something else the next, never static, always dynamic, continuous change, full of little deaths and little births, becoming and ending in the blink of an eye.

Planning for months is useful, but acting as though each day is a gift is where we will find the true power behind all accomplishment.

Even small accomplishments are great accomplishments when followed through to completion. 

Whether a person is performing a sword cut or completing an on the job report, being fully present, they are the same thing. Details and execution along the proper path make all the difference.

Putting something off for tomorrow means that execution has been thwarted today, the task will not be completed... 

Then there is the question ‘can this level of exertion be maintained over the course of months, weeks, or years?’ That question becomes meaningless when we realize that the timeframe may well be unreasonable.

The real power is in maintaining the exertion, the focus, the energy and intent for this moment... Should the next moment come, then maintain it there as well.

Each breath is a gift, the next is never promised.