“A Tiger Catches a Mouse With His Whole Strength”
Attacking small problems early on eliminates larger ones later
“The other day Tatsugami Roshi said ‘a tiger catches a mouse with his whole strength.’ A tiger does not ignore or slight any small animal. The way he catches a mouse and the way he catches and devours a cow are the same. But usually, although you have many problems, you may think they are minor so you don’t think it is necessary to exert yourself.”
Shunryu Suzuki, not always so
Suzuki Roshi’s quote and that of his colleague are about karma and the nature of problems. When the tiger is hunting, he is totally focused on the job at hand. If a problem arises he deals with it then, not later, and eats. Some days he eats well, others not, but with each hunt he eats something.
It is easy to procrastinate about problems especially if they are minor. Maybe you made a small promise to a friend but didn’t get around to doing it. Maybe you put off a bill because ‘it’s not that important’. Or skipped an oil change. You get my drift. These small things can blow up into major problems if you let them by simply not taking action when they are manageable.
