Dray sat upright on his bed and wondered what to do for the day since it was an off duty day for him. He had been focusing on attaining the doton element for the past few days. He had seen improvements but he was not perfect yet. Perhaps, if there was someone to encourage him like his sister or probably his mother. His strongest source of inspiration was his father's words. Dray stared into the air as the words came to his ears...
"Until you reach the end of your dissertation there is always more work to do and the next action to complete. It is easy to focus on what you need to do or what you failed to do and forget to acknowledge yourself for what you accomplish along the way. Until you submit your dissertation for review, few people if any are aware of the day-to-day work you do or the times you pushed through and worked when you did not feel like it. There is no built in external reward system inspiring you to keep going. I believe an important strategy to sustain motivation over time is to pause and acknowledge yourself for what you do accomplish. No matter how much dissertation work remains, the small accomplishments along the way deserve to be acknowledged. Some students withhold acknowledgment from themselves because they believe that focusing on or even criticizing themselves for what they have not done or how much more there is to do will be more motivating. In my years as a dissertation master, I have yet to see self-criticism or always focusing on how much more there is to do to be an effective long-term strategy for motivation and productivity. If those were effective motivation strategies, I would not have a job! When you pat yourself on the back and give yourself credit for your hard work, you are likely to feel more motivated and inspired to keep working. Acknowledgment of the work you do today increases the odds that you will look forward to feeling good for the future work you complete and be more present to your own capacity to get dissertation work done. Some of my clients actually write a statement such as,acknowledge myself for a job well done as the last action on their work plan for a given day or week as a reminder to celebrate their accomplishments. You deserve to feel good about yourself as you make progress on your dissertation. Stop, review your accomplishments at the end of the week, and acknowledge yourself for everything that you did accomplish. If acknowledging yourself feels awkward or uncomfortable at first, it is just a sign that you need more practice. In time, you will become more comfortable acknowledging yourself and come to see that celebrating your accomplishments is ultimately more motivating than dwelling in your failures. For now, I am your master and not your father"....
Dray got up from the bed as he was already dressed. Dray got up and exited his home through the doors. He took a stance in front of his house. His home had a large compound and a large fence to barricade his home besides only he lived in the house so the thought of someone seeing him hone his skills was out of the question.
Dray activated the doton chakra he had formerly perfected. The chakra linked to his own chakra path way. Dray stretched both his right and lend hand towards the ground and made an upward movement from the ground. He was trying to lift whatever earth particle that was lying around.
Little stones rose from their foundation and answered dray's call. Dray was impressed as he released his hands. He tried it once more and this time around, it was more faster. Perhaps, dray should move on to the next level.
He walked close to a tree and planned on uprooting it by pushing the earth beneath it upwards. It also followed the logic of trying to raise up stones from the earth so it should be pretty easy or so dray thought.
He stretched his hands forward one more and tried them again but nothing was happening. Dray inputed all the efforts he could but all to no avail and just as if his father had been watching from above, he spoke in dray's head..."Think about something that would give you a reason to push on. Something that would stop you from giving up. My words are inspirational but they are not enough as you have out grown them. Something attached to emotion would do the deal"... as the voice faded into the wind.
Dray fell toward the tree as his head hit the tree and stopped him from falling face down. He had not had any real friends or attachments so what feeling did he have that related to thick emotions.. He tried to think about one of his father's regular saying. It was one that told him that the blade was not just a sword, it was life itself perhaps, it could help in this doton training as dray buried his head and closed his eyes..
Make your grip strong on the hilt of the swords but loose at the same time. A swordsmaster must be firm with the sword but loose with its movements. Swordsmanship is like a mirror, in which you look at yourself before you wash your face in the morning. You see yourself, simply, the way you are.
Five Secrets of bukijutsu. Move quickly. Sound, calm mind. Be light in body. Have a clever mind. Master the basics.
Even though surrounded By several enemies set to attack, Fight with the thought That they are but one. The sword has to be more than a simple weapon; it has to be an answer to life's questions. The way of the sword and the Way of Zen are identical, for they have the same purpose; that of killing the ego. Sword and mind must be united. Technique by itself is insufficient, and spirit alone is not enough. The ultimate aim of duel lies not in victory or defeat but in the perfection of the character of its participants. Where questioning is rewarded, virtues are promoted, respect is demanded, and love is central........
Mechanical wings allow us to fly, but it is with our minds that we make the sky ours. The more you sweat in training, the less you will bleed in battle. Pain is the best instructor, but no one wants to go to his class. Only a warrior chooses pacifism; others are condemned to it. I have a high art, I hurt with cruelty those who would damage me. Victory is reserved for those who are willing to pay it's price. To be prepared for war is one of the most effectual means of preserving peace. One mind, any weapon. We do not rise to the level of our expectations. We fall to the level of our training. One finds life through conquering the fear of death within one's mind. Empty the mind of all forms of attachment, make a go-for-broke charge and conquer the opponent with one decisive slash. In the beginners mind there are many possibilities, but in the expert's mind there are few. When you aim for perfection, you discover it's a moving target. I am prolonging the fight because I can see that you need the practice. The Way of the warrior does not include other ways, such as Confucianism, Buddhism, certain traditions, artistic accomplishments, and dancing. But even though these are not part of the Way, if you know the Way broadly, you will see it in everything. Take arrows in your forehead, but never in your back. You can prevent your opponent from defeating you through defense, but you cannot defeat him without taking the offensive. You might as well stand and fight because if you run you will only die tired. He who knows others is wise. He who knows himself is Enlightened. Act like a man of thought; think like a man of action. Your work is to discover your work and then with all your heart to give yourself to it. A swordsman know how well to fight and when to surrender but not without effort. Putting all these into use will guarantee you a brighter future.......but father, how am I to memorized all these and put them into use??...You do not have to memorize all these. Each of these sayings have been compacted into a single saying that you'll become familiar to as you meditate each day.. I'll teach you the saying when the time comes...
This saying pumped a bit adrenaline in him but Just then, dray remembered his first fight to the death. He had won the fight with his words but had lost the battle with his skills...
The greatest gift of life is friendship, and I have received it. Sometimes being a friend means mastering the art of timing. There is a time for silence. A time to let go and allow people to hurl themselves into their own destiny. And a time to prepare to pick up the pieces when it's all over. Friends show their love in times of trouble, not in happiness. When we honestly ask ourselves which person in our lives means the most to us, we often find that it is those who, instead of giving advice, solutions, or cures, have chosen rather to share our pain and touch our wounds with a warm and tender hand. Friendship is unnecessary, like philosophy, like art... It has no survival value; rather it is one of those things that give value to survival. Don't walk behind me; I may not lead. Don't walk in front of me; I may not follow. Just walk beside me and be my friend. You might take me as an enemy but Love is the only force capable of transforming an enemy into friend. Friends are born, not made.
The best and most beautiful things in the world cannot be seen or even touched - they must be felt with the heart. The measure of who we are is what we do with what we have. I hated every minute of training, but I said, 'Don't quit. Suffer now and live the rest of your life as a champion.' The will to win, the desire to succeed, the urge to reach my full potential... these are the keys that will unlock the door to personal excellence. I Infuse my life with action. I Don't wait for it to happen. I Make it happen. I Make my own future. I Make my own hope. I Make my own love. And whatever my beliefs, honor my creator, not by passively waiting for grace to come down from upon high, but by doing what I can to make grace happen... Myself, right now, right down here on Earth.
You may wonder why I feel no pain now...
But sometimes, you must hurt in order to know, fall in order to grow, lose in order to gain, because life's greatest lessons are learnt through pain and due to this pain I have long endured, I have found one who is worthy to be called a friend. My parents left me dangling in the world with nothing but these swords that have long protected me with all they have. I managed to live in this world and fought against a legend who later bacame my sensei. Now, am sure I have you even though I dont know you yet.
The periods of clashing with you both with my swords and jutsu have transmitted a little part of you to me. A part of your loneliness which I have come to pity. How you must have managed to live, to feed, to grow, yet, I charged into you like I was given a straight ticket to hell. I might not be execellent in tendering apologies but some if not all of my words have relayed how I truly feel towards you... Now, to fully channel my feelings to you, I shall bump fists with you..
With a simple tear falling from his face, dray stood upright once more as he stretched his hands forward. The veins in his body manifested on his arms and tightened themselves to show that dray was straining hardly.
With clenched teeth, dray stamped his right foot on the ground as he raised his hands with the motion of throwing something upward and to his suprise, the earth beneath the tree shot upwards and ejected the tree from it's place. It was a successful training all thanks to memories that gave him cause to live on.
WC:2151
EXIT
"Until you reach the end of your dissertation there is always more work to do and the next action to complete. It is easy to focus on what you need to do or what you failed to do and forget to acknowledge yourself for what you accomplish along the way. Until you submit your dissertation for review, few people if any are aware of the day-to-day work you do or the times you pushed through and worked when you did not feel like it. There is no built in external reward system inspiring you to keep going. I believe an important strategy to sustain motivation over time is to pause and acknowledge yourself for what you do accomplish. No matter how much dissertation work remains, the small accomplishments along the way deserve to be acknowledged. Some students withhold acknowledgment from themselves because they believe that focusing on or even criticizing themselves for what they have not done or how much more there is to do will be more motivating. In my years as a dissertation master, I have yet to see self-criticism or always focusing on how much more there is to do to be an effective long-term strategy for motivation and productivity. If those were effective motivation strategies, I would not have a job! When you pat yourself on the back and give yourself credit for your hard work, you are likely to feel more motivated and inspired to keep working. Acknowledgment of the work you do today increases the odds that you will look forward to feeling good for the future work you complete and be more present to your own capacity to get dissertation work done. Some of my clients actually write a statement such as,acknowledge myself for a job well done as the last action on their work plan for a given day or week as a reminder to celebrate their accomplishments. You deserve to feel good about yourself as you make progress on your dissertation. Stop, review your accomplishments at the end of the week, and acknowledge yourself for everything that you did accomplish. If acknowledging yourself feels awkward or uncomfortable at first, it is just a sign that you need more practice. In time, you will become more comfortable acknowledging yourself and come to see that celebrating your accomplishments is ultimately more motivating than dwelling in your failures. For now, I am your master and not your father"....
Dray got up from the bed as he was already dressed. Dray got up and exited his home through the doors. He took a stance in front of his house. His home had a large compound and a large fence to barricade his home besides only he lived in the house so the thought of someone seeing him hone his skills was out of the question.
Dray activated the doton chakra he had formerly perfected. The chakra linked to his own chakra path way. Dray stretched both his right and lend hand towards the ground and made an upward movement from the ground. He was trying to lift whatever earth particle that was lying around.
Little stones rose from their foundation and answered dray's call. Dray was impressed as he released his hands. He tried it once more and this time around, it was more faster. Perhaps, dray should move on to the next level.
He walked close to a tree and planned on uprooting it by pushing the earth beneath it upwards. It also followed the logic of trying to raise up stones from the earth so it should be pretty easy or so dray thought.
He stretched his hands forward one more and tried them again but nothing was happening. Dray inputed all the efforts he could but all to no avail and just as if his father had been watching from above, he spoke in dray's head..."Think about something that would give you a reason to push on. Something that would stop you from giving up. My words are inspirational but they are not enough as you have out grown them. Something attached to emotion would do the deal"... as the voice faded into the wind.
Dray fell toward the tree as his head hit the tree and stopped him from falling face down. He had not had any real friends or attachments so what feeling did he have that related to thick emotions.. He tried to think about one of his father's regular saying. It was one that told him that the blade was not just a sword, it was life itself perhaps, it could help in this doton training as dray buried his head and closed his eyes..
Make your grip strong on the hilt of the swords but loose at the same time. A swordsmaster must be firm with the sword but loose with its movements. Swordsmanship is like a mirror, in which you look at yourself before you wash your face in the morning. You see yourself, simply, the way you are.
Five Secrets of bukijutsu. Move quickly. Sound, calm mind. Be light in body. Have a clever mind. Master the basics.
Even though surrounded By several enemies set to attack, Fight with the thought That they are but one. The sword has to be more than a simple weapon; it has to be an answer to life's questions. The way of the sword and the Way of Zen are identical, for they have the same purpose; that of killing the ego. Sword and mind must be united. Technique by itself is insufficient, and spirit alone is not enough. The ultimate aim of duel lies not in victory or defeat but in the perfection of the character of its participants. Where questioning is rewarded, virtues are promoted, respect is demanded, and love is central........
Mechanical wings allow us to fly, but it is with our minds that we make the sky ours. The more you sweat in training, the less you will bleed in battle. Pain is the best instructor, but no one wants to go to his class. Only a warrior chooses pacifism; others are condemned to it. I have a high art, I hurt with cruelty those who would damage me. Victory is reserved for those who are willing to pay it's price. To be prepared for war is one of the most effectual means of preserving peace. One mind, any weapon. We do not rise to the level of our expectations. We fall to the level of our training. One finds life through conquering the fear of death within one's mind. Empty the mind of all forms of attachment, make a go-for-broke charge and conquer the opponent with one decisive slash. In the beginners mind there are many possibilities, but in the expert's mind there are few. When you aim for perfection, you discover it's a moving target. I am prolonging the fight because I can see that you need the practice. The Way of the warrior does not include other ways, such as Confucianism, Buddhism, certain traditions, artistic accomplishments, and dancing. But even though these are not part of the Way, if you know the Way broadly, you will see it in everything. Take arrows in your forehead, but never in your back. You can prevent your opponent from defeating you through defense, but you cannot defeat him without taking the offensive. You might as well stand and fight because if you run you will only die tired. He who knows others is wise. He who knows himself is Enlightened. Act like a man of thought; think like a man of action. Your work is to discover your work and then with all your heart to give yourself to it. A swordsman know how well to fight and when to surrender but not without effort. Putting all these into use will guarantee you a brighter future.......but father, how am I to memorized all these and put them into use??...You do not have to memorize all these. Each of these sayings have been compacted into a single saying that you'll become familiar to as you meditate each day.. I'll teach you the saying when the time comes...
This saying pumped a bit adrenaline in him but Just then, dray remembered his first fight to the death. He had won the fight with his words but had lost the battle with his skills...
The greatest gift of life is friendship, and I have received it. Sometimes being a friend means mastering the art of timing. There is a time for silence. A time to let go and allow people to hurl themselves into their own destiny. And a time to prepare to pick up the pieces when it's all over. Friends show their love in times of trouble, not in happiness. When we honestly ask ourselves which person in our lives means the most to us, we often find that it is those who, instead of giving advice, solutions, or cures, have chosen rather to share our pain and touch our wounds with a warm and tender hand. Friendship is unnecessary, like philosophy, like art... It has no survival value; rather it is one of those things that give value to survival. Don't walk behind me; I may not lead. Don't walk in front of me; I may not follow. Just walk beside me and be my friend. You might take me as an enemy but Love is the only force capable of transforming an enemy into friend. Friends are born, not made.
The best and most beautiful things in the world cannot be seen or even touched - they must be felt with the heart. The measure of who we are is what we do with what we have. I hated every minute of training, but I said, 'Don't quit. Suffer now and live the rest of your life as a champion.' The will to win, the desire to succeed, the urge to reach my full potential... these are the keys that will unlock the door to personal excellence. I Infuse my life with action. I Don't wait for it to happen. I Make it happen. I Make my own future. I Make my own hope. I Make my own love. And whatever my beliefs, honor my creator, not by passively waiting for grace to come down from upon high, but by doing what I can to make grace happen... Myself, right now, right down here on Earth.
You may wonder why I feel no pain now...
But sometimes, you must hurt in order to know, fall in order to grow, lose in order to gain, because life's greatest lessons are learnt through pain and due to this pain I have long endured, I have found one who is worthy to be called a friend. My parents left me dangling in the world with nothing but these swords that have long protected me with all they have. I managed to live in this world and fought against a legend who later bacame my sensei. Now, am sure I have you even though I dont know you yet.
The periods of clashing with you both with my swords and jutsu have transmitted a little part of you to me. A part of your loneliness which I have come to pity. How you must have managed to live, to feed, to grow, yet, I charged into you like I was given a straight ticket to hell. I might not be execellent in tendering apologies but some if not all of my words have relayed how I truly feel towards you... Now, to fully channel my feelings to you, I shall bump fists with you..
With a simple tear falling from his face, dray stood upright once more as he stretched his hands forward. The veins in his body manifested on his arms and tightened themselves to show that dray was straining hardly.
With clenched teeth, dray stamped his right foot on the ground as he raised his hands with the motion of throwing something upward and to his suprise, the earth beneath the tree shot upwards and ejected the tree from it's place. It was a successful training all thanks to memories that gave him cause to live on.
WC:2151
EXIT