"I have not special talent. I am only passionately curious."- Albert Einstein
What is true mastery? Is mastery being able to execute the techniques perfectly? Is mastery being able to know everything? I wish that it were. Mastery is not a static thing that can be measured by achievement. In Aikido or any other martial art, mastery is a mindset. Just as Einstein's quote eludes to, mastery is having the openness and willingness to just be curious. As we become more experienced or perhaps older and more wiser, life becomes less about what we don't know and more about what we can learn. Wanting to know or to achieve "mastery" as means to stave off self-doubt is replaced with the confidence of curiosity. Wikipedia defines curiosity as, "a quality related to inquisitive thinking such as exploration, investigation, and learning...." Curiosity is not based in fear and it has a calmness about it and calmness is one of the main goals of Aikido training. To master anything all we need to have is the calmness to be curious. This calmness to be curious enables us to achieve mastery over ourselves so that we may live a life of harmony and eventually happiness. If someone as smart as Einstein changed the world by just being curious, what could we achieve by following his example? Please just be curious.