Polishing One's Soul

The Japanese sword was often called the "Soul of the Samurai" as the warrior and his weapon were inseparable. In a society that taught one to always prepare for death, to wear your best clothes under your armor to battle in case you were to die, it's easy to understand how such people lived only in the present. They never waited until tomorrow, as the day was never a guarantee. They found the one thing they could do best and lived each day- as if it were their last- perfecting it. Polishing their art.

This was the topic of last night's Gakushu class. Continuously striving to perfect your art. No matter what your art is. Whether it's your job, your hobby, your relationships- it doesn't matter. So long as you are working to perfect it. Do what you love, and do it the best you can.
Seek out the perfect in everything and don't overlook other's strive for perfection. See perfection in your daily life. In nature's polished soul.

Find what it is within yourself that you can strive at for perfection. Work everyday to be better at it. Polish it.
Do your best constantly.
Never wait until tomorrow. Do not wait until you're feeling better, you have more time, the weather is nicer, etc. Take advantage of the NOW.
Be in the moment. Grab it. It's yours.
Kancho reminded us, "We must continuously evolve, move forward, progress our learning. Stagnation is moving backwards. Progress or collapse. Construction or destruction."
Keep building, keep growing, keep learning.

What would you do today, right now, if you knew it was the last chance you had to do it?
No tomorrow.
Only today.
Polish your art.
Polish your soul.