"Practice is not easy. It WILL transform our life. But if we have a naive idea that this transformation can take place without a price being paid, we fool ourselves. Don't practice unless you feel there's nothing else you can do. Instead, step up your surfing or your physics or your music. If that satisfies you, do it. Don't practice unless you feel you must. It takes enormous courage to have a real practice. You have to face everything about yourself hidden in that box, including some unpleasant things you don't even want to know about."
--Charlotte Joko Beck
God.... how true this is. It reminds me of a saying that I've heard a couple times around the martial arts community:
ReplyDelete"Better never to start, but once you start, better to finish"
Sometimes it definitely feels that way. Practice really does open up the can of worms that is each of us, and once we see what's inside, the awareness of what's there sticks with us. At least that's the way it is for me. Then, I have to keep going to get to the other side of what comes up. Ignorance is bliss, and surpassing a challenge is bliss, but like the quote you picked says, Rick... don't let anyone say the middle part isn't a real test sometimes.
Love her writings
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