“We learn little from victory, much from defeat.” - Japanese Proverb
Warriors love mistakes, everyone else hates them. Shoshitsu Sen XV once wrote, “When you follow the Way of Tea, no matter how you think you may disgrace yourself, it will not be taken as disgrace or shame. Make mistakes, be rebuked, stand corrected and learn.” The grandmaster’s words ring true for budo as well. Mistakes are just errors in judgement and most of them are benign and hopefully don’t result in catastrophe. Teachers are supposed to point out where we have made mistakes so that we can improve. The problem with making mistakes and being corrected is that most people take it personally. In the past, training was supposed to help students develop thick skins and desensitize them to the pain, hardship and cruelty of battle and life. If they could endure the training, many students realized their own potential and became successes in their regular lives. I remember one student who drove a taxi and after achieving black belt under Furuya Sensei, he realized that he could do anything he set his mind to and went to medical school and became a doctor. Later, he became resentful of Sensei’s strict discipline and left not realizing that learning to deal with Sensei’s strictness was the reason why he became successful in the first place. Nobody wants to make mistakes but warriors know that mistakes can show them where they need to put in the work and that’s why Sensei always used to say, “Cry in the dojo, laugh on the battlefield.” Learning to not take it personally enables us to make mistakes constructively which enables us to grow and improve and ultimately become successful. Taking things personally only makes us resentful and prevents us from using mistakes as guides in our training. Thus, it’s not about making mistakes, but in how we deal with them that is important. Mistakes are just mistakes. Make mistakes, learn from it and use them to make yourself better. Warriors learn from mistakes.
Today’s goal: When you make a mistake, don’t take it personally - just learn from it.