I did four tai chi forms today, reluctantly. Hey, look! It’s that old demon again, the force of accidie! As I finished the first, he said, “that’s enough, you don’t need any more today.” But the twinge in my knee said to keep going, that needs a stretch. At the end of the second form, he said, “Yep, that’s plenty.” But a twinge in my ankle told me to keep going. And I did. At the end of the third form, he said, “Really, three is enough.” And yet I kept going into the fourth. And at the end of the fourth he said, “You won today. Maybe I’ll get you tomorrow.”
And I discover that this is the reason I keep bouncing back and forth between one form and four. If I can get the second one started, it’s easier to keep going because all four directions have to be honored in this way at that point. But one is easier, and there’s a little devil sitting close at hand trying to get me to stop.
If I can remember to honor the four directions every day, I can keep on.
