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Morning practice is on hold for now

Edited English version based on the Chinese original. Read the Chinese original

I took today off to steady my mind. Looking back on yesterday, I can see how immature my thinking was. I wanted everything at once without a clear sense of my main task. Right now that task is work. Until I am doing it as well as I can, I need to stop scattering my attention.

I had understood the principle of focusing on what matters most in investing, but not applied it fully elsewhere. Over lunch today, a friend made the point so plainly that my thinking changed. It was embarrassing to see how childish my approach had been.

He was right, though his criticism was so sharp I nearly lost my temper. I am now glad he spoke that way, because I have not forgotten it. After sitting with his words, I also understand my team leader better.

Why do I keep failing to put the most important thing first? I have heard the lesson without truly acting on it, year after year. I cannot have everything at once. Perhaps that is why I have not become especially good at any one thing.

The Bible says there is a time to be born and a time to die, a time to plant and a time to uproot.1

What time is it for me? A time to give my work my full attention. So I am pausing my morning Japanese practice for now, until I have room for it again.


  1. Paraphrase; see Ecclesiastes 3:2 , New World Translation of the Holy Scriptures (Study Edition), jw.org. ↩︎

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