Consistency will carry us through when enthusiasm lets us down.
At some point, no matter what path we are on, we will eventually find ourselves tired, frustrated, and disheartened.
This will happen with personal projects, educational pursuits, professional aspirations, and relationships.
Regardless of how enthusiastic, motivated, or driven we once were, at some point, we will struggle to want to move forward.
Our enthusiasm, like all emotions, inevitably wax and wane.
The joy and excitement we experience when things are new and going well is simply unsustainable as our circumstances, environment, and relationships evolve, and as we evolve.
Change is the constant. Our feelings about that change are not. Nor can or should we expect them to be.
If we want to thrive, we must focus on the consistency of our actions matching the consistency of change.
Enthusiasm will come back in its own time.
It is up to us to show up with or without it in the meantime.
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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