Chop Wood, Carry Water

“Before enlightenment, chop wood, carry water. After enlightenment, chop wood, carry water.” - Zen Proverb

A friend of mine recently reminded me of the ‘Carry Water, Chop Wood’ Zen quote. It was a timely reminder as I am quickly approaching the time of year where I will be promoting some long time students to the rank of black belt.

Success is built upon process. Follow a process, and you will achieve results. Often we get so focused on the end results of what we are working to achieve that we forget about the journey that got us to where we wanted to be. The real value is found in the journey, not the destination.

We say our black belt is the white belt we started with, stained black with the sweat and blood of our efforts. Achieving a black belt is not an endpoint in and of itself. To keep moving forward after that achievement, you need to continue to the same things after that you did before. The little things never stop being important. If you can’t maintain the simple tasks, how can you hope to conquer bigger challenges?