Furuya Sensei posted this to his Daily Message on January 24, 2002.
Have you ever tried to do something impossible? One student wrote to me the other day that he thought he could never do well in Aikido because it is too difficult. Of course, no one in their right mind will admit that Aikido is easy. It is definitely not. Yet, because Aikido is such a great challenge doesn't not mean that it is hopeless to pursue it. In Chinese calligraphy we must master writing literally thousands of characters. If we think that each character can be written in many different styles and methods, the numbers are almost infinite. Yet, despite the incredibly horrendous task ahead of trying to learn calligraphy, we still pursue our study by practicing one character at a time. There is an old worn-out saying about how a journey of a thousand miles begins with one step. Such a cliche but how true it is!