Being Present: More Wisdom from Fast & the Furious Tokyo Drift

“Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift. You would think that watching it on almost every flight I’ve been on would make me sick of it. But for some odd reason, I keep coming back to it. I love Japan. But I also just love the story about the older cool kid Han, taking an underdog outside kid under his wing and mentoring him. One of the first ridiculously amazing Asian American characters to be shown on film in Hollywood. 

And it highlights some eternal truths for every young man: the importance of having a mentor, finding your tribe, never counting anyone out, being decisive, and face your problems head on. Also don’t mess with the Yakuza aka the Japanese mafia! :) All this and the fact that Japan is just really amazing and awesome. 

But putting that aside, there is one of the many excellent scenes, showing deep wisdom, when Neela and Sean are drifting in their cars in the mountains of Japan. 

“Things were different back then. We just made do. No one bothered us.” 

“It felt like everything else just disappears. No past. No future. No problems. Just the moment.”

I reflect on this. “Ichi-Go Ichi-E”, that one moment in your life that will never happen again. 

Like many people I either tend to be trapped in the past or more usually just looking forward to the future. Just trying to rush through the present to get there. 

So many moments in my life when I should have slowed down. Breathed. Taken in the moment more. Treasure it. Soak in it. 

The moment when I was promoted or got a job. Or had a great conversation. Met a new interesting person. Closed a big deal. Made some money. Graduating an Accelerator batch of startups at 500 Startups. Found that lost old book. Found an amazing restaurant. 

Or visited some amazingly beautiful place like the Egyptian Pyramids on Giza or the Great Wall of China. Did White Shark Cage diving. Or sometimes just hanging out with old friends over a meal. Or just being with family. Watching your kid grow up. The little small & magical things that add up to the big memories of your life. 

I feel like I rushed through my life and now only have so little of it left. Which means I need to savor the time and moments even more. They say “youth is wasted on the young”, it was certainly true with me. No more. 

I’m going to squeeze what I can from this life. Take in everything I can and do what I can to enjoy it. You should too.