Ganbatte: The Japanese Art of Moving Forward
Difficult is not impossible. Remember that!
Ganbatte, a Japanese term, is the concept of always moving forward, do your best. It’s about not giving up. The Japanese mindset embodies making the good better, and making the most of everything.
Wabi sabi is about accepting and being excellent, rather than being perfect. Ikigai, which I wrote about before, is about living on purpose. Kaizen is about continuous improvement. Likewise, Ganbatte encompasses that same positive, forward thinking mindset.
Artists, athletes, and other creatives often use ganbatte without actually naming it:
When you sit in front of the blank canvas each day even when inspiration doesn’t come
When you show up to the playing field every day to practice even if you’re still on the bench during games
When you stare at a blank page, pen in hand, every day, waiting for the words to appear
You are a function of what the whole universe is doing in the same way that a wave is a function of what the ocean is doing. -Alan Watts, Philosopher
The way you think and the way you act affects all those around you. Also, what you surround yourself with is what influences your thoughts and actions. The motion of waves is simply energy transference causing movement. Your thoughts and actions are energy which cause movement within and around you.
When we look forward through adversity, we take those around us with us. Your positive energy attracts others and, like a wave, carries them forward as well. As well, those you surround yourself with will do the same for you. When you are surrounded by forward-moving, positive-thinking people, their attitudes can help carry you forward when you’re feeling stuck.
After WWII, Japan’s government used the spirit of ganbatte to encourage the country to move forward. Within about 30 years, Japan was the second largest economy in the world. We all saw their technological advancements explode in the 1980’s. And again after the Kobe earthquake in 1995 and the earthquake and tsunami in 2011, Japan embraced the ganbatte mindset and effectively rose from the destruction.
Here we see the ganbatte mindset of meeting a crisis and moving forward rather than letting it beat us down.
Senri no michi mo ippo kara = even the longest journey begins with a first step.
There was a time when the Olympic runner first learned to walk and the award winning writer learned their alphabet. Take your first step. Take the class. Be a beginner.
Success is taking the first step when others only talk about it.
Why are we so embarrassed to be new and clumsy at something? Want to try a new hobby? Take the class and open your mind and heart to be a beginner and mess up a few times before getting the hang of it.
About 20 years ago, I taught myself to knit using YouTube videos. My initial attempts were horrendous! But I really wanted to learn, so I kept going. Now, while not perfect, my knitting has gotten good enough where I feel comfortable giving items as gifts. Then, about 10 years ago, I wanted to learn to spin yarn on a spinning wheel. This time, I sucked it up and took a class. Again, my initial attempts were even worse than with knitting, but I kept at it. I am still no professional spinner, but my yarn is much nicer than before.
I do it to expand my skills. I do it because I love to learn new things. I do it for me. It took a long time for me to be ok with doing something badly, with being a beginner. But the important thing is to try anyway. Always move (yourself) forward. Take the first step. Whether it’s learning a skill or running a marathon. You need to just take the first step, and then the second, and the third.
Difficult is not impossible.
Too often we just give up. It’s too hard. I keep meeting resistance. I don’t have what I need to finish. We tend to have the mindset that difficult means impossible. It just means it’s gonna take more perseverance. Ganbatte!
What I’m Reading This Week
Here are some other ‘stacks that have caught my attention this week. Check them out and subscribe or share if you like what they have to say:
I love the positive waves I got after reading this. Thank you!