My last official night in New York City was last night…at least for a while.

This is going to mark the last new post on urban samurai…at least for a while.

I have been given a job opportunity that is too good to pass up. In a city way far away in distance. And even further away in culture.

I’m sitting in my favorite restaurant, where I’ve written so much. The final hours of my time in this great city.

I’ve thought about continuing writing on here. But for a myriad of reasons, the soul in my written word will be gone. And I don’t want to put anything on here that I feel is substandard.

It’s time anyway. Time for me. And I would guess, time for you. After a while, almost everything gets old.

When I first started writing here, I needed strength. I was stumbling in a career and had already fallen down in life. And you all gave me the strength I needed. To crawl. To walk. And then eventually I started running.

Now I fly.

I owe a lot of where I am today, to the people who would come here. Some old friends and now, a lot of new friends.

You.

All the words of encouragement. All the contemplating you did over my words. All the positivity you shared with me. With each other. All the heaping praise on my writing and on me. That was and is humbling. Overwhelmingly flattering.

I truly thank you. From the bottom of my heart.

I want to leave you with two quotes. I’ve probably written these quotes before, another reason why I need to stop…for a while.

The 1st is a quote from Aristotle, that I have been saying a lot lately. “You are what you repeatedly do.” You are not what you think you are. Remember that. You are what you do. That is for all people. People who think highly of themselves. And for people who think very little of themselves. You are either a good person or you are not, because of what you do. Not by what you think.

Consider yourself in terms of what you do. That dose of self-realization will give you the arms to embrace the change that you need to move forward.

My favorite part of the Aristotle quote is next sentence. “Excellence then, is not an act, but a habit.”

I love that. Make a habit out of excellence. No better advice I can give. No better advice I can get.

And it ties directly into the 2nd quote I want to share.

The 2nd quote, comes from Lao Tzu, “Watch your thoughts; they become words. Watch your words; they become actions. Watch your actions; they become habit. Watch your habits; they become character. Watch your character; it becomes your destiny.”

Start thinking about excellence. Start talking about excellence. Start acting in excellence. This will get you to form habits in excellence. Your character will be excellent. Your destiny will be excellence.

I am not perfect and never will be. But I can still make a habit out of excellence. I can still point my entire life towards excellence. You can too.

I will miss our time together. I wish you the strength and resolve, to shape the life you want for you and your loved ones.

I look forward to hearing about your progress.

Urban Samurai