As a student and teacher of Tai Chi for the past 42 years one of the greatest benefits to my general health and well being has been to learn that resistance is futile in the sense of trying to overcome a force greater than yourself, physically or mentally, because it inevitable leads to injury, physically and or mentally.
When something or somebody resists you, the wise yield, others resist/fight.
The resistance you are encountering is not for you, it is a condition suffered by the other person or thing blocking your present path. The fact that you are in its path is just a coincidence. It is just something passing through, a temporary situation or state. Do not take it personally. See it as it is, something outside of you.
Don’t let it in, if you do it will infiltrate and destroy, eat away at your inner being, consume your mind. Keep it where it belongs outside, separate.
See it as you would see the rainy day when you wished to go walking or play tennis or some other outdoor activity.
Distinguish it as merely an irritation that can be dealt with by taking control of your mind and then finding another exciting indoor activity to do instead.
You have this power within you. You are the controller of your destiny, but only if you believe it, and only if you use it
Henry Ford who brought the motor car to the working man and women, and who amongst us is not grateful for that, once said,
“Whether you think that you can, or that you can’t, you are usually right”.
Life is often like a storm arriving, an unfathomable natural condition of forces beyond your control. Let it pass. If you resist it will build in power and cause much damage, if you can let it pass through the disturbance will be minimal. And when harmony returns you will be unscathed and able to move on towards your dreams and goals.
The story of King Canute is usually misrepresented as an example of the King’s arrogance. The truth is King Canute set his throne by the sea shore and commanded the tide to halt and not wet his feet and robes. The King wanted to show his people that even though he was a King, he was powerless before nature and God.
The King continued to command the tide to halt. However, the tide continued to rise and washed over his feet and legs without respect to his royalty.
Then the king moved backwards, turning to the watching crowd and said: “Let all men know, empty and worthless is the power of kings, for there is none worthy of the name, but He whom heaven, earth, and sea obey by eternal laws.” He then hung his gold crown on a crucifix, and never wore it again “to the honour of God the almighty King”, the ruler of all nature. It is a shame that his actions have been distorted for the true story imparts much wisdom.
If you fight the storm when it enters your life you will probably sustain mid to severe damage or worse as a result. And when the disturbance passes, waste much time returning your life to its position before the calamity hit.
Day to day minor and occasionally major aggravations infiltrate our lives at work, within our families and through our own beliefs systems.
How we react to those disturbances affects the quality of life we experience.
by Howard Gibbon
© Copyright 2012 Howard Gibbon – all rights reserved