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Warrior Work
Week 39
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The Tao of Balance
by Peter Hill
"Creative minds have
always been known to
survive any kind of bad
training.”
Anna Freud
Everyone leads such busy lives dealing with day to day challenges and yet the number one thing you need to be successful in life is
physical, mental, emotional and spiritual balance or as they say in tai chi, ‘keeping your center’.
I recently heard that an old student of mine committed suicide. One of my black belt instructors that attended the service told me that
at 52, this student had retired, was financially set but while going through a divorce, felt he had nothing to live for or look forward to. He
was in good shape physically but spiritually, emotionally, socially and mentally he was out of sync. The lesson he reminds all of us of is
that we need to look at the big picture of the 6 areas of success and keep them in balance instead of fixating on the track of one or two
that society deems important.
The 6 areas are: (and you can rate your level of success in each one as we cover them)
1. Physical - This includes the ability for your body to serve you instead of being a prisoner within it. Exercise,
bodywork/massage/nutrition, flexibility, strength, relaxation, sleep - all play important synergistic roles.
2. Mental - Be a lifelong integrative learner in psychology, philosophy, health, ethics, music, languages etc. and doing right/left brain
exercises to build your neural net (Tai Chi and Yoga covers both 1 and 2 and has lots of great recommended reading).
3. Emotional - Cultivate positive self esteem through healthy relationships, work, social activities and love of self. "if momma ain't
happy, ain't nobody happy". This applies to us all because what ever is inside of us ripples out into the world around us. Be Happy!
4. Social - We are social beings so being involved in our society through service at work, service to charities, involvement in your
church, red cross, hospice or to your neighbors. Being of service to others gives us purpose and meaning. Separating ourselves
fragments our personality and tends to promote a "poor me" victim mentality which is unhealthy on many levels.
5. Environmental - Too often we take our environment for granted but without it, we can not navigate through this world. Taking the
time to raise our awareness and advocate for the environment is something we all need to do more of.
6. Spiritual - This aspect of health really deals with our core values and priorities. Be at peace with this area and everything else fits
into place. True peace is not needing to know what will happen next. If this is out of sync, everything else falls out of sync. True
peace is not needing to know what will happen next.
You may have noticed I didn't include financial health anywhere. Money is a tool to be able to experience what you wish in life. I have a
friend who makes 300K a year and says he was just as happy making 30K but his wife, on the other hand was unhappy with him making
30K and is unhappy at 300K. He says, "30K and 300K is the same - your state of mind and your inner sense of purpose, peace and
happiness is what matters!"
If you have a warrior's attitude and cultivate the feeling you need nothing, then you will be grateful for everything you have and you will
love people and use things instead of loving things and using people. And with that level of understanding, we are reminded that we can
lose everything we have (ask those living on the gulf coast) but not who we are. A key question to ask is, “What is the quality of your love
toward each of the 6 areas?”
The things of the world shall pass away but the things of the spirit shall not pass away. Cultivate that indomitable spirit and you will
have achieved/become the Tai Chi - the ultimate expression of a successful human being.
By Peter Hill, Copyright 2004
www.getittogether.net
www.worldtaichi.com
Warrior Week Home >>
Week 39
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The Tao of Balance
by Peter Hill
"Creative minds have
always been known to
survive any kind of bad
training.”
Anna Freud
Everyone leads such busy lives dealing with day to day challenges and yet the number one thing you need to be successful in life is
physical, mental, emotional and spiritual balance or as they say in tai chi, ‘keeping your center’.
I recently heard that an old student of mine committed suicide. One of my black belt instructors that attended the service told me that
at 52, this student had retired, was financially set but while going through a divorce, felt he had nothing to live for or look forward to. He
was in good shape physically but spiritually, emotionally, socially and mentally he was out of sync. The lesson he reminds all of us of is
that we need to look at the big picture of the 6 areas of success and keep them in balance instead of fixating on the track of one or two
that society deems important.
The 6 areas are: (and you can rate your level of success in each one as we cover them)
1. Physical - This includes the ability for your body to serve you instead of being a prisoner within it. Exercise,
bodywork/massage/nutrition, flexibility, strength, relaxation, sleep - all play important synergistic roles.
2. Mental - Be a lifelong integrative learner in psychology, philosophy, health, ethics, music, languages etc. and doing right/left brain
exercises to build your neural net (Tai Chi and Yoga covers both 1 and 2 and has lots of great recommended reading).
3. Emotional - Cultivate positive self esteem through healthy relationships, work, social activities and love of self. "if momma ain't
happy, ain't nobody happy". This applies to us all because what ever is inside of us ripples out into the world around us. Be Happy!
4. Social - We are social beings so being involved in our society through service at work, service to charities, involvement in your
church, red cross, hospice or to your neighbors. Being of service to others gives us purpose and meaning. Separating ourselves
fragments our personality and tends to promote a "poor me" victim mentality which is unhealthy on many levels.
5. Environmental - Too often we take our environment for granted but without it, we can not navigate through this world. Taking the
time to raise our awareness and advocate for the environment is something we all need to do more of.
6. Spiritual - This aspect of health really deals with our core values and priorities. Be at peace with this area and everything else fits
into place. True peace is not needing to know what will happen next. If this is out of sync, everything else falls out of sync. True
peace is not needing to know what will happen next.
You may have noticed I didn't include financial health anywhere. Money is a tool to be able to experience what you wish in life. I have a
friend who makes 300K a year and says he was just as happy making 30K but his wife, on the other hand was unhappy with him making
30K and is unhappy at 300K. He says, "30K and 300K is the same - your state of mind and your inner sense of purpose, peace and
happiness is what matters!"
If you have a warrior's attitude and cultivate the feeling you need nothing, then you will be grateful for everything you have and you will
love people and use things instead of loving things and using people. And with that level of understanding, we are reminded that we can
lose everything we have (ask those living on the gulf coast) but not who we are. A key question to ask is, “What is the quality of your love
toward each of the 6 areas?”
The things of the world shall pass away but the things of the spirit shall not pass away. Cultivate that indomitable spirit and you will
have achieved/become the Tai Chi - the ultimate expression of a successful human being.
By Peter Hill, Copyright 2004
www.getittogether.net
www.worldtaichi.com
Warrior Week Home >>