To Train

Sometimes I think about life. LOL. I know, that's dangerous. It sounds like the beginning of a joke, but in all seriousness, as I think, I've noticed that my time to really ponder life's mysteries has been usurped greatly by my numerous duties.

I am at peace with that, because I have been blessed to have received answers to my many, many questions. I feel very satisfied, knowing that, at some point, you just have to take the leap and live what you've learned, putting your knowledge to the test, to handle--with some degree of finesse, hopefully--the battles and drudgery of daily life.

For those who have chosen the warrior's path, daily life becomes the battlefield. I can't imagine what it is for others, because that's what it's always been for me. Often the test comes first and study comes later. Sometimes it is bereft of enemies and othertimes the din of war is ubiquitous.

But it is a windy path, one that winds around always, with long grand vistas at times and at others valleys shrouded in darkness, where we are either made or broken. Regardless of my specific spot on the road, however, and my feelings about it, I am invariably brought back to one of my favorite quotes by an old Japanese spearmaster, Deishu Takahashi:

"If a sword is not constantly polished, it will never show it's lustre."

Oh, and this is me getting launched by one of my favorite teachers. I guess that's what you might call "getting polished."

Over and Out,

--Nick-Dog