Do or do not. No such thing as Try

If you are familiar with the line above, you would know that it came from Empire Strikes Back when Yoda chided Luke Skywalker for having no faith in his own innate ability.

This is the same with qigong, kung fu, taekwondo, hapkido and Aikido. It's all up there in the head. You have read the manuals, practise the moves and probably done the routine under the guidance of a sifu.

Next step forward is to do it, without thinking, without any preconceived anxiety but with confidence and pride, as if you have performed the system a thousand times before.

When you stretch out that finger, tighten that muscle, believe in total confidence, it is so.

Do not hesitate, do not tarry, do not doubt. There's no room for doubt in the minds of champions. Feel the rush, slow down the tide of anxiousness, and breathe in the energy.

Let it fill your lungs, reinvigorate your being, refresh your mind and soul and soar into the outer limits.

Just do. There's no try. You are ready. Believe it.

Why do you want to live a long life?

Everybody, with very few exceptions, wants to live a long life. But even few ever answer the question why?
Just give me a long life, says just about any normal person who can be 18 or 80. The question begs to be asked: "Why a long life?" What if you are destined to lead an impoverished existence?

It would be hell on earth to ask for that extra 15 or 20 years to continue a life of misery and sorrow. There are reasons known only to God why certain people do not live beyond their alloted number of years.

Imagine a child whose fate is a dreadful disease of which there is no known cure. Before you can say, maybe there could be one in five years' time, heaven may know better.

We human beings are constantly asking for things that are either not meant for us or they are too much for us to handle.

A man who lives to 100 may serve some great purpose. Having said that, a man of 30 can also live a life of great purpose but according to Enlightened Ones, longevity is merely a word of no great consequence except maybe to humans who can't resist the thought of giving up any earthly even though it serves no purpose.

The world beyond this has not been seen or explained with any clarity. We think death is an all-consuming darkness of unfathomable proportions.

Perhaps our earthly request should be a good life, not matter what it's length is. A good life of many extraordinary moments is a million times better than a long life of meaningless routines.

Therefore, trouble not your God about the extra years you want added onto the existing one. But seek to make the best of every moment of every day so that every second is accounted for in full.

If you can live such a life, even 30 years of human existence is a great bargain. Live every moment as if it is your last. Breathe every intake of air as if it is your last and love everyone as if they are the closest ones to you, and you will be all right.

Most importantly, you will be one happy person. Cheers.

Live like there's no tomorrow!

What will you do if you know that the world will end next week? If like most of us, you are normal and think you are missing out on a lot of things, you will certainly do one or two things.

One, you will spend all the money you have saved up for a rainy day. And two, you will take your family to as many great places as time and money will allow you.

What is the moral of the story? It simply means when a man knows he is running out of time, he will turbo-charged his life and squeeze every last ounce of thrill and excitement from the remaining hours and minutes.

Thus, you must live like so. What's the point of finding out at the age of 85 that you should have had that double-helping of hot chocolate fudge when you were 50 and threw caution to the wind.

Better die happy, my friend. All of us will reach that final destination sure enough. We need no prompting from anyone else.

If you want to tell anybody you love her or him, say so, and say it soon. You may very well run out of time.