Greetings. I used to live in Tucson, Arizona. Started my Tai Chi teaching career there. It is supposed to reach 115 degrees today! Boy, am I glad I moved to Port Townsend, where the high temperature should almost reach 70! Hope all is well for you and yours.
Invest in Loss
Invest in loss is an often quoted idea in Tai Chi literature and teaching. It refers to the philosophy that one can learn from one’s mistakes, so as not to repeat them. But think about this for a moment. This type of learning comes from study, from putting time into analyzing a situation. One would then figure out what went wrong, and finally decide how not to repeat it. A lot of effort. Here is an alternative that I believe will yield more results.
Study what you did right and build on it. Figure out what you did to make a winning situation and work to expand that. Can you see the difference? If, say, you wanted to enter push hands contests. Would you study the people who lost and try to figure out why, or would one benefit more from studying the contestants who won and then work with those principles? If you wanted to start a business, do you think you should research the businesses that failed, or the ones who succeeded?
So no matter what your field, study your successes and expand on those. The results will amaze you. Instead of going from minus to zero, you will move from plus to more plus.
A simple way to look at life
Life is short. When one is young, it doesn’t seem that way, but as one ages, time starts to speed up. The study and practice of Tai Chi will help us move from the idea of doing, into one of being. Our minds switch from looking to the future into experiencing the present. So in the words of one of our great teachers, Ram Dass, Be Here Now!
Best Wishes,