Furuya Sensei posted this to his Daily Message on March 26, 2003.
I notice that many think that freedom is the ability to do whatever they feel like. If they don't like it, or they feel a little lazy, right away, they say, "No!" or "Forget it!" It happens in Aikido
too. "I don't like this so forget it." Or, "That hurts so I don't want to do it!" and so on. We pick and choose everything and just go by the momentary feelings we have.
In training, however, it is not a "world of everything you want.” Everything is a "must do" world. We "must" train. We must do this. We must do that. We have no choice! We must do everything! This is why many people have problems with training. Sometimes, we think, "It is like a prisoner camp!" or "I can't do what I want!"
If we think about it, the real world is just like this. It is really not our so-called "freedom" world but a "must do" world too. I must go to work. I must study. I must work hard. I must pay the bills. I must repair the house. I must clean the floors and on and on.
Because there are so many things we "must do" it does not mean that our so-called freedom is violated. It is the way of the world, but it is just that our thinking is wrong.
Our Life is so valuable that we cannot afford to waste it! Don't think of freedom as "not" doing everything - or just doing what we feel like! Do not think "I must do" but be very, very grateful that it is really an "I CAN do!" world.
I "can" work hard. I "can" study hard. I can repair my house. I can train in Aikido. With all the things that we CAN do in our lives - we can, for the first time, realize TRUE Freedom.
So as a teacher, I always say, "You MUST train hard!" Haha! Can you understand?