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If It Works Don’t Over-Think It: Just Be … for a While

Taking time to be set and comfortable in a positive situation seems to be hard for some and too easy for others.  There is great virtue in always push and striving for better.   Also, there is great virtue in being able to disengage and allow things to just be.   As I believe Aristotle would contend, these virtues are character states of which exist in a continuum.  Within the continuum of which these virtues exist lies the ruinous nature of these states and the states that provide efficient growth.  I do implore you readily familiarize yourself with Aristotle’s Nicomachean Ethics.  When looking through the lens of constantly questioning and pushing toward understanding the root issue of a cause, and adding the filter of utilizing a passive state to reflect and revel in progress; I believe the path to an efficient nature and environment becomes clear.  There are times for both, actively seeking and passively seeking, and when properly regimented positive growth can be not only consistent, it can be constant.

When instructing students in Tai Chi Chuan, a question that consistently comes up is, “How did I do that?  It felt like I didn’t do anything.”  My general response is, “Well, you know you are doing something right when you, and the people around you, feel like you’ve done nothing at all, and you generate the proper product”.  After my response, normally, I will watch what they did and will see them try to recreate the occurrence.  What happens when they cannot recreate the event is the student begins to become frustrated with the situation.  This is when we disengage from the setting.  Many times this is where the lesson of “letting go” starts.  I allow them the information that being worried and getting frustrated are not good states to be in when living.  I tell them that many people mix-up frustration and worry with care and concern.  The difference is the negative nature that worry and frustration carry.  At this point, the point of trying to recreate an occurrence and the outcome generated is a negative environment because they are unable to recreate the occurrence, I invite the student to understand that sometimes instead of trying to dissect a positive observance they should solely revel in the fact that it happened.  What happens, when training this approach with my students, many times they do not exactly replicate what they did; however, what is found are many other efficient ways of producing the product desired.  They learn that relaxing and letting go is not solely physical.  It comes easily to people to attribute relaxing and letting go as a physical occurrence when training the martial arts.  What many fail to realize is that for the physical to truly be relaxed, the mental and emotional states of a being need to be at ease as well.  Many practitioners get caught-up in the desire to “win” and be “perfect in technique”, because of this they become myopic.  Often they get so caught-up in what they want they miss out on many other possible efficient outcomes, and in many cases their myopia breeds corrupt techniques; techniques that are possibly effective however not efficient.

Too often, I believe, we cause a grand amount of stress in our lives trying to recreate great moments of our past.  Sometime we get caught-up in the memories of our happiness and never truly are able to live in the present which would bring us much more pleasure if we were able to let go of the past.  I believe that there is nothing negative about remembering all of the joy brought to us by the things we have done in our past.  Also, I believe that understanding what we have done and how we have done things in our past, which were completely productive and pleasurable, is necessary to have a positive and productive present and future.  However, when one becomes wrought with worry and despair attempting to generate past occurrences, the proper positive nature of regenerating past happiness and joy is lost.

Always be prepared to learn from your past mistakes, understand your past joys to be able to bring about future happiness, and be able to let go of the past and the future so that you are able to revel in your current successes.  Redefine your idea of winning if and when you become overly stressed.  That is not to say you should lower your standards.  Never lower your standards.  However, find a different approach that will allow no stress and complete efficient fulfillment of the product and pleasure desired.

Sometimes to find the most efficient way we must stop our taxing pursuance of what we did and how we did it, and rejoice in the moments positive products are produced.  When we willfully relax and allow thing to happen we open ourselves to many new and efficient ways for things to happen.

For more information Winston’s his martial arts academy please visit Internal Magnification.  

Winston Price, Executive Producer, has over a decade and a half of marketing, advertising and public relations experience. He began his business career in 1995 and is a graduate of Indiana University Bloomington. Winston also is a master martial artist and personal trainer with over 2 decades of knowledge and experience. Winston runs his own school, Internal Magnification Martial Arts, where he focuses on helping people reach their personal goals of health and fitness via At-Home personal training with martial foci of Taekwondo, Tai Chi Ch’uan, Hapkido and Ba Gua Zhang. As an executive producer for VoiceAmerica, Winston utilizes his skills in business and personal training to help new and existing hosts maximize their opportunity with the VoiceAmerica Talk Radio Network by supporting his hosts with the business and personal aspects of creating and developing their show. Winston believes that each host brings their own flavor to the Network. By properly coaching and motivating his hosts, they are able to produce THEIR show with THEIR style and THEIR passion being at the forefront of every broadcast.