Miyamoto Musashi’s Hardest Lesson

I was facing down the hardest decision of my life. Would I persist in the comforts of familiarity, or risk my life and comfort for a potentially worse situation?

It’s a typical risk-reward scenario. The safer route yields far less fruit than the riskier one. But the risky route could end in disaster.

For the past few months, I took a liking to a martial arts group near my hometown. I bonded with the people there, developed a sense of attachment to both them and the art I practiced.

But adventure was calling. I always wanted to see the world and experience military discipline. But it meant I would have to leave behind that comfortable place in order to grow.

Musashi, in his Book of Five Rings, talks about this phenomenon. People are held back by their attachments and forfeit a life of mastery and greatness for companionship.

Never let yourself be saddened by a separation.

How could I not feel sad? People aren’t just machines on an assembly line. They care about each other too, not just their work ethic.

But the more I thought about those words, the more they began to settle in my soul. I always wanted to experience the unusual and engage in a meaningful life.

If I lingered around my home for the next fifty or so years I am alive, would I feel like I accomplished that?

I know in my heart that the answer is no. I need to embrace discomfort, experience what is out there, and know for sure.

To die uncertain if I ever reached my full potential would be a sin against myself.