Note: Furuya Sensei originally posted this to his blog on November 19, 2004.
The only thing to prevent you from fulfilling your dreams is your own attitude. It is your mind in which you materialize your dreams, but it is also in your own mind where you can also kill them. . . . . Practice must focus on your mental attitude so that you can clarify the direction of your thoughts.
In training, we can prove ourselves by demonstrating a good attitude, but by showing a bad attitude, we prove nothing. . . . .
Most people cannot see beyond themselves. When coming to the dojo, or in any activity in one's life such as work or family, or being with family members and friends, the “energy” or ki (氣) changes with every second. One must be constantly in tune with these energy changes in the timing, the situation and the circumstances we always find ourselves in. Because most people cannot see beyond themselves, they are always caught in “awkward" circumstances - this only means they are not "fitting in" to their own world and environment. Ki does not only come in while doing Aikido - it is around us everywhere and in every second of our lives. Do not tune this out but try to tune into this energy. This is how we bring Aikido into the practice of Aikido and into our daily lives.
Watch this video of Furuya Sensei talking about Aikido