“I imagined each day as a full lifetime, and each morning, I felt as if a new life was beginning, and focused only on living this “lifetime” without regret.”
Having suffered from the serious illness of leukemia, hovering on the brink of death, facing financial hardship from battling illness for over a year, feeling frustrated at my inability to regain my former strength, experiencing the deaths of loved ones, and now my wife battling cancer—through these experiences, I have encountered countless inner conflicts and learned a great deal.
When I was first rushed to the hospital with leukemia, I was half-conscious, unsure whether I was awake or asleep, dreaming.
Each time I regained consciousness and woke up, I wondered, “I’m still alive, but will I be able to wake up next time?”
From these experiences, I’ve come to accept that there’s no guarantee of a safe tomorrow, and I focus on each day, living each day to the fullest.
When I wake up in the morning, I’m still breathing.
Being alive means I surely still have a role to play.
I tell myself that today, there must be a day where I can still accomplish something, burning brightly with life.
I imagined each day as a full lifetime, and each morning, I felt as if a new life was beginning, and focused only on living this “lifetime” without regret.
This perspective allows me to forget my anxieties, forget my fears, forget the past and the future, be grateful for the wonder of being alive today.
This doesn’t mean spending the day doing whatever I want, but rather living each day to the fullest towards a greater goal and fulfilling my role with intensity.
My goal is to let as many people as possible experience the joy and fulfilment of self-improvement through martial arts training.
And my role is to carry on the legacy of Shihan Aso and make it a reality.
Sensei said to me, “I’m counting on you to develop SAW globally. I know you can do it.”
The verb form of ‘success’ is ‘succeed’
I’ve heard that the original meaning of “succeed” is “to carry on”, “to take the place of another” or“ to follow after”.
Shihan Aso’s legacy lives on in the hearts of us SAW students and is being carried on.
I believe I survived for a reason: to achieve these goals.
That’s why I want to live each day to the fullest, burning brightly with life.
