This morning, as I finished the tai chi form (having done five golden coins and eight pieces of silk just before that), I had the thought, “Well… if I do this two hundred more times… I can say I’ve done this for a year.”
Somebody asked me yesterday how long I’ve been doing tai chi, and I told them, “164 days.” Because that’s the answer; I may have learned tai chi back in 1997-98, and I may have been practicing it off and on over the years since then. But in this current go-around, I’ve been doing it for 164 days, and that’s it. I’d like to keep going for a whole year. It’s my plan to keep going for a whole year. I plan to keep going after that.
But persistence is about going out and getting stuff done. It’s about saying, “I’m going to keep at this project/plan/program until it yields its secrets and shows me what’s what, and lets me win.” I don’t know that I’m ever going to win at tai chi. It’s not that sort of thing… but in another sense, it is. Every morning that I get up and do this thing — today on the front porch, because the living room is crowded with bags and boxes — is a day that I say that my will is stronger than it was yesterday. I’m capable of setting goals for myself, and achieving them.
So expect this series to continue for now. I’m aiming for 200 more days.
