Do the difficult thing first. Get it out of the way. Check it off the list.
Face that which you are most avoiding. Do it while it is convenient knowing that it is never truly convenient. Do it anyway. Do it now. It will not become easier with time.
Time only adds to the fear, the anxiety, and the dread. Avoidance feeds on time like a cancer. The longer we wait to do that which we know we must, the more the worry, the resentment, and the shame metastasize into all other aspects of our selves and our lives.
The things we do not want to do, the things we do not want to face, they are not going anywhere. They are in us. We cannot get away from them by running. We cannot run away from ourselves. We can never truly hide from our fears, insecurities, needs, and wants.
Hard work now makes our lives easier tomorrow. Avoiding the hard work now makes our lives more difficult tomorrow, the next day, and the day after that. Do the difficult thing first. Do it now.
Holistic Budo: As it is in budo, so too it is in life. As it is in life, so too it is in budo.
Robert Van Valkenburgh is co-founder of Taikyoku Mind & Body and Kogen Dojo where he teaches Taikyoku Budo and Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu.
All photos by Robert Van Valkenburgh unless otherwise noted.
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