03/13/2026
âDo the best you can until you know better. Then when you know better, do betterâ âMaya Angelou.
Shojin is about showing up for yourself, for your inner work, and for your community. Sometimes translated as âdiligence,â and sometimes translated as âjoyful effort,â it simply means putting forward earnest attempts at everything you do.
Sometimes it means sitting down to meditate, even when you are tired and confronting the Self is the last thing you want to do. Sometimes it means giving your friend a ride to the airport. And sometimes it means arriving early for a shift at the soup kitchen. Our capacities change, and our âbestâ is not staticâit is dynamic. It can vary on a daily basis, but whatever our âbestâ is that day, we strive to embody it.
A helpful tip is to try and attempt things with âbeginner mindââa Buddhist principle that means engaging with a material, process, or situation as if we have never seen it before. It can be especially useful for situations that are overly familiar too us. Humility can be very helpful in summoning the âjoyful effortâ when it is elusive.
