I was out late at a birthday party last night, and I wasn’t expecting to get up right away to do tai chi. But, of course, my body roused me a little after five a.m. for a bathroom break — and once that was done, tai chi seemed like the obvious choice. It’s amazing how much the need — the genuine need — to do tai chi has taken over my morning routine. It’s kind of like the Force from Star Wars: “it controls my actions but it also obeys my thoughts.” If I serve it, it serves me.
I can’t say it was my best practice. In fact, the whole week has been kind of crappy in terms of quality of performance. However, I spoke with a friend of mine who’s a Kali practitioner, which is a Philippino martial art. She said, “yeah I’ve made a commitment to a daily practice, but sometimes if it’s been an 18-hour day at the hospital, I come home, and I do five minutes with the knives, and I’m done for the day. Sometimes it has to be that.” And this is a person who actually conducts trainings for other serious practitioners, a master in the art.
So far, I’ve always done more than that. Even this morning. Which meant that I was able I go back to bed without even writing my entry for the day. And I felt like my early-to-late morning post-tai-chi snooze was the sleep of the just.
We do the work, and then we go on. And all is well in the world.
Thanks for this. It’s inspirational.
I’m glad. There are days, particularly lately, when nothing I write feels inspired.