Braeden C.
Photography by Mason Schlopy
If you're reading this, attack the day.
You may be here for a couple of reasons.You may be struggling in a battle against yourself and want to hear other peoples solutions. You may be a friend who saw me get posted and wanted to see what I’m blabbering about now, or you may be a future writer looking for inspiration. Regardless of who you are, hi.
I'm Braeden, a Junior at Syracuse University, and today is special. I've struggled with anxiety and depression and I have a number of different pieces of advice to give. There've been days where I felt conquered by self doubt, days I spent in the hospital just trying to get up and fight another day. But recently I've had a new response to the days. It was something one of my coaches told me recently, that has been helping me through my summer, and will continue to propel me through life. “ichi-go ichi-e” or “一期一会” in Japanese characters, loosely translates to “one time, one meeting”. I could go into all the backstory and the sayings in which it comes from, but I'd rather stay in the moment, like the saying says. When you think about it, everyday is a once in a lifetime opportunity. You're never going to relive this day again. That's sometimes a difficult concept to live with. Maybe it was a great day, and you'd give anything to get it again, too bad, that's not gonna happen. Maybe it's a really tough day for yourself, your team, a loved one etc., well good news, that was a once in a lifetime occurrence. This post will stay up, you can come back to it whenever you want, but it'll never be read the same way as right now, and I think that's a really cool thing.
One thing I know too well is that pressure can build up. Pressure on your grades, relationships, performance in your sport or activity, and as a college student it gets amplified. But when thinking through the lens of ichi-go ichi-e, there is no build up. There's a reset everyday, every moment. Now, while I’m the one narrating this, telling you to just relax and reset, it's not that simple. You're reading the work of someone with crippling anxiety, which means when it comes to overthinking or looking into an unrealistic future, I think I could be the best in the world at that. There have been days I've failed to look through this lens, and that's okay. Failure is a part of life. Doing something, anything, and failing, well that's a lot better than not trying in my eyes.
If you know me personally, you'll know I have a couple sayings I break out from time to time, the biggest one, and I’ve been told the most annoying one, is “attack the day”. While I use it when joking around or picking on my friends, I truly do try to live by it. Ichi-go ichi-e, one time, one meeting, go and attack it. I don't know about you, but my biggest competitive motivator is doubt. If you tell me I can't do something, I'm not stopping until I’ve done it and can see your face when you realize what I've accomplished. If you're wired like that, go get it, and show me when you do. If you want some positive affirmation, that's right here in the text as well. You have one time, today, you have one moment, right now, let's go do it, I'll be battling right next to you. Ichi-go ichi-e, attack the day.
Braeden C., Syracuse University
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