Patience
Posted by Fiona Anderson. on Saturday, August 10, 2013
Our society is a very impatient one. People seem to want instant gratification, instant responses, instant results. I read somewhere that learning anything well takes 30,000 hours of practise.
Two opposite approaches, and two opposite types of outcome. With being prepared to put in the time, you are demonstrating not only patience and persistence, but also that you are aiming for a meaningful life as a result. (*)
Anyway, patience with yourself is key to learning stuff. Not just don't worry about making mistakes, but actually be happy that you are making those mistakes, as they are helping you learn how to improve. Chinese saying that means this is "invest in loss", so that they've known for ages that mistakes are part of the learning process and t hat you should relax into making them. Relaxation in tai chi is so much more than just physical - you learn how to relax mentally about stuff that previously would have had you wound up and this relaxation is key to improving in your practise. Patience leads to relaxation!
Here in the UK, people come to tai chi really worried about if they're getting it right straight away - that's what we're taught as part of our "instant results now please" society. Whereas tai chi takes the opposite approach - don't worry about getting somewhere, don't worry about mistakes, instead enjoy the feeling of slowly doing stuff, slowly improving in small steps over time. That way, when you look back and compare yourself now to yourself when you started, you will be able to smile at your improvement and one day you will suddenly be told by your teacher that you're in for a grading, or asked to help a new beginner, or some other milestone that will make you feel so happy.
(*) One of my pet peeves is that many people only see their lives in terms of possessions, must-haves and so forth. When you change your view to how you'd like to be feeling on your deathbed, then the meaningfulness of your life becomes clear: I can't imagine anyone dying going "urggh! I wish I'd had time to buy the latest X". My hope is to die going "mmm tasty boyfriend still around after 100 years together, surrounded by friends paying attention to me (not playing with latest gadget), I've done good things, kind things, and had nice experiences in my life, so I'm ready now to become atoms along with the other atoms, or to be pleasantly surprised by being reborn / having an afterlife" That's how to go! :)
Two opposite approaches, and two opposite types of outcome. With being prepared to put in the time, you are demonstrating not only patience and persistence, but also that you are aiming for a meaningful life as a result. (*)
Anyway, patience with yourself is key to learning stuff. Not just don't worry about making mistakes, but actually be happy that you are making those mistakes, as they are helping you learn how to improve. Chinese saying that means this is "invest in loss", so that they've known for ages that mistakes are part of the learning process and t hat you should relax into making them. Relaxation in tai chi is so much more than just physical - you learn how to relax mentally about stuff that previously would have had you wound up and this relaxation is key to improving in your practise. Patience leads to relaxation!
Here in the UK, people come to tai chi really worried about if they're getting it right straight away - that's what we're taught as part of our "instant results now please" society. Whereas tai chi takes the opposite approach - don't worry about getting somewhere, don't worry about mistakes, instead enjoy the feeling of slowly doing stuff, slowly improving in small steps over time. That way, when you look back and compare yourself now to yourself when you started, you will be able to smile at your improvement and one day you will suddenly be told by your teacher that you're in for a grading, or asked to help a new beginner, or some other milestone that will make you feel so happy.
(*) One of my pet peeves is that many people only see their lives in terms of possessions, must-haves and so forth. When you change your view to how you'd like to be feeling on your deathbed, then the meaningfulness of your life becomes clear: I can't imagine anyone dying going "urggh! I wish I'd had time to buy the latest X". My hope is to die going "mmm tasty boyfriend still around after 100 years together, surrounded by friends paying attention to me (not playing with latest gadget), I've done good things, kind things, and had nice experiences in my life, so I'm ready now to become atoms along with the other atoms, or to be pleasantly surprised by being reborn / having an afterlife" That's how to go! :)
Tags: "patience" "invest in loss" "meaningful life"