So, in the last couple of days, I’ve run into a couple of people who haven’t seen me in a while, and gotten positive feedback. They say I look good. When I get on the scale, of course, I don’t see any change. But people ask if I’ve lost weight, if I’ve been on a diet, if I’ve changed my eating habits. None of these things are true, but people have been startled at the change. Which means it’s working. Taiji of course is primarily an internal art, and it’s so smooth and ‘easy’ that most Western weightlifters or workout-aholics smirk when I tell them I do taiji. But the changes it cultivates are mostly internal and mysterious. The changes take a little time to develop and integrate. For a long time, I thought nothing was happening, too. Every day on the scale would say the same. Nothing happening, nothing changing, no improvement.
Yet not all changes are on the surface. Don’t be surprised if people who haven’t seen you in a while are shocked — startled, surprised — at the change that your habits of discipline have made.
