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Just For Today; The Reiki Precepts in Life

Updated: Dec 10, 2024

Reiki founder Mikao Usui lived in a world that, like ours, was full of constant change and challenges. Inspired from his recent meditative pilgrimage to Mr. Kurama, he returned to his teaching dojo where he'd been sharing about life force energy, and he wrote down a very simple poem in black calligraphy ink.



Usui hung this beautiful scroll on the wall in his dojo intending to inspire and remind his students of the way to cultivate happiness in life, and to help them ground in the peace and presence of each day.


In this poem he states: 


Just for today, I will give thanks for my many blessings.

Just for today, I will not worry.

Just for today I will not be angry.

Just for today, I will make an honest living.

Just for today, I will be kind to everything that has life.


While there are many translations of this poem, these words, "Just for today," never change. These five simple precepts serve as guideposts to help us cultivate mindfulness, resilience, and a sense of deep connection with life.


What does it mean to make a promise just for today?


The Power of Just For Today


To do something "just for today" requires us to be in the present, not distracted by the regrets of the past or the uncertainties of the future.  In our modern society, we spend so much time planning for the future, but now more than ever it is time to come back to our present selves and ask, What am I doing right now to create the future I desire?


I'm the master of saying, "Tomorrow I will cut down on auto-gas consumption. Tomorrow I'll start taking 20 minute walks to the park." It's easy to plan, but it requires courage and presence of mind to act in the moment. Living ‘just for today’ reminds us to take small, deliberate steps toward the life we want to create.


It can be very difficult to step out of old comfortable patterns in order to welcome in greater happiness. Look with critical but compassionate eyes at the choices you're making, and ask whether they truly reflect your values for peace and health. Slow down long enough to breathe and reassess before acting. Right now is the moment when a new way of thinking, and even a whole new path in life can come into creation for you.



Just for today is a call to arms, an invitation to look at today. Why is it important? This day is the microcosm of your whole life, your well of fortune and happiness. If you can not be present in today, then you are sleeping through it.


I've also found a lot of passive comfort in beginning all sorts of goals and affirmations with "Just for today." It feels like a reminder that I don't have to stress out over the big picture of what I'm creating. Rather, I can do something grand, something honest and beautiful, for a simple short term commitment. One day.

 

It is a lot easier to stop smoking and drinking for one day, than for a whole lifetime. Likewise, it can be easier to make commitments to eat healthy, meditate, or work on our processes for self-development, compassion, connection, or happiness when we only have to do it for one day.


Breaking Down The Precepts


Let’s explore each of these precepts more deeply and see how they can inspire our daily lives.


1. I will give thanks for my many blessings. Gratitude is one of the most transformative emotions we can experience.


Gratitude is the experience of fully feeling the gifts in your life, big and small.

When we focus on what we’re thankful for, we naturally shift our energy toward abundance rather than lack.


For me, this practice looks like pausing during my morning tea to name three things I’m grateful for. It could be as simple as the way sunlight filters through my window or the kindness of a friend who sent an unexpected text.


When we feel gratitude, love, and appreciation flowing through our body, it means our endocrine system has actually released feel-good hormones into our entire system. Energetically, this helps us to open our spiritual container from which all of our vital energy flows. We are instantly reconnected to source energy.


In essence, when we feel gratitude, our entire system begins to recharge, just like putting your cell phone back on a charging bed! Not only does gratitude feel good, but it actually stimulates our healing centers.




2. I will not worry.Worry is a tricky thing. It masquerades as preparation, but really, it drains our energy and pulls us out of the present.


When I find myself spiraling into worry, I try a grounding practice. I sit quietly, placing my hands on my solar plexus or wherever I feel the energy of worry in my body. Then I breathe deeply and send my excess energy down into the earth, imagining a taproot from the base of my spine and feet flowing all the way to a soft glowing pink heart of the earth. It’s a reminder that even when things feel uncertain, I have the power to return to a place of calm.


Ultimately I've learned that the only way to disengage worry is to take action. Although we can sometimes decide not to worry (and that can be a valid action), the worry is usually rooted into some fundamental fear that is undermining our psyche. If we can take actions that disengage the original fear, the worry will fade.




3. I will not be angry. Anger often feels like a righteous emotion, but it can quickly spiral into something destructive. Usui doesn’t ask us to deny our anger—he asks us to release it. This means acknowledging our feelings in healthy and embodied ways so that anger can flow through us rather than consuming us.


One way I’ve learned to process anger is by jogging. I don't really love to jog or run for that matter, but taking physical action allows me to connect with the energy on a somatic body level so that I can honor letting it go.


In Reiki 1 Training we look at the causes of anger, how it is stored in our energy system, different ways to help clear anger, and we honor anger as an important part of our emotional body system. When anger comes up, it is often our first signal that either our external or internal boundaries have been crossed in some way.



4. I will make an honest living.This precept speaks to living with integrity—not just in our work, but in how we show up in all areas of life. When we align our actions with our values, we become soulfully embodied and we begin to offer our best contributions to the world around us.


Honest living relates to the energy we give and how we align with the commitments we’ve made. Living within our means allows us to approach life with clarity and balance, rather than chasing more than we truly need or feeling trapped by scarcity.


In the past few years there's been a trend of people purchasing homes, cars, and luxury items they can't afford. Ultimately this isn't good because it can trigger fear and lack in our system if we don't have the means to care for basic survival.



Today basic survival means food, water, a safe place to sleep, and the resources to ensure that we can remain safe (which might look like a job, health insurance, retirement allowance, and space & time for meaningful relationships). If we don't have our basics for safety, we're skipping an important step in well being.


Honest living also calls us to examine how we give our energy. Are we overextending ourselves to the point of exhaustion, or conversely holding back from fully engaging with what we’ve chosen to do?


Whether it’s a day job or a soul-aligned calling, approaching our work with clear intention and a healthy amount of effort helps us absorb and hold more life force energy. Overwork, exhaustion, or imbalance lead to energetic leaks that deplete us, but living in alignment fills us with vitality.


Many students I've worked with over the years have imbalances in this area that they've never really explored. It can be easy to stay in dead end jobs, or to lean into the idea of slow quitting in a career you don't enjoy.


Fear keeps people from pursing long held desires, and we commonly adopt coping mechanisms such as overworking as a way to remain too busy to look at the real issues.



However, slowing down to reflect and honor both the practical and the spiritual dimensions of our work, we invite harmony into our lives.


5. I will be kind to everything that has life. Kindness is a ripple effect. Every small act of compassion, from holding the door for a stranger to speaking gently to yourself, creates a wave of positive energy that spreads further than we can see.


Usui’s emphasis on universal kindness reminds us that we are deeply interconnected with all beings. By treating others with respect and care, we honor that connection.


I remember a friend telling me that the way she counteracted her road rage was to imagine that the person in the car in front of her was a kindly grandmother. For her, imagining others as family helped her to treat them with more patience and respect.


Sometimes we confuse kindness with being a doormat. I don't believe being kind means you need to throw out personal boundaries, or compromise reason. Instead, I think of it as a compassionate response to the world around us.


Kindness is the way we give others the benefit of measured trust and belief, unless we've been shown reasons to act otherwise. When we're kind, it opens doors to new friendships and greater connections. Kindness can be the safety net that saves others in times of challenge.


Kindness can be the safety net that saves others in times of challenge.

Being in the mindset of kindness returns us to our sense of connection with the world. As Nelson Mandela says "Our human compassion binds us the one to the other—not in pity or patronizingly, but as human beings who have learnt how to turn our common suffering into hope for the future.


Making “Just for Today” Work for You


When I first encountered these precepts, they felt daunting. Could I really stop worrying or be kind to everything, even on my most stressful days? But then I realized once again the beauty of the phrase “just for today.”


We don't have to be perfect. The poem reminds us that being present is how we cultivate these aspects of our being.


Starting a new habit or mindset shift can feel overwhelming when you think about maintaining it forever. But when you commit to something for one day—just one day—it suddenly feels achievable.


Here are a few small ways to bring the precepts into your daily life:


  • Take a moment each morning to set an intention for the day, inspired by one of the precepts.

  • When challenges arise, ask yourself, “What would this look like if I approached it with kindness?”

  • At the end of the day, reflect on one moment when you lived in alignment with these principles.



What Would You Do “Just for Today”?


I love the flexibility and simplicity of this poem. Some days, it’s a promise to rest when I feel tired instead of pushing through. Other days, it’s choosing to focus on gratitude instead of frustration. Or to reflect on anger and old wounds so that I can ultimately release them with gratitude.


Usui’s wisdom reminds us that each day is a microcosm of our lives. When we bring intention to our today, we set the stage for a brighter, more aligned tomorrow.


What about you? What would you like to commit to, just for today?


~Dailey


PS: If you loved this article and are interested in exploring these themes more deeply, consider taking my Reiki 1 Training online. This format gives us space and time to drop more deeply into the poem and understand the metaphysics of how the poem actively works in our day to day life. You can find classes here!


 

© 2011 Dailey Little. You are welcome to reproduce this article provided you do so in its entirety, including the copyright and this blurb: "Dailey Little is a Reiki Master and active practitioner. She teaches Reiki & other fun stuff through her private practice in Santa Rosa, CA. Join her joyful community for ReikiShares, Free Clinics, and eco-activism by signing up at her website, www.SantaRosaReiki.com"



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