Freedom Equals Free From

“Are all you people always so happy?” … “Don’t you ever experience things that make you unhappy?” Have you ever heard people say this about those who practice T’ai Chi Chih? I thought about this and remembered…

By the age of 26, I’d stuffed away the death of my father at the age of 18; being in an abusive relationship during my college years; being a single mother of handicapped daughter; marrying a drug addict; deciding to turn off life support after a severe seizure left my daughter in a coma; and becoming a widow after nine months of marriage.

Many positive, special things have happened since. Immediately following the emotional roller coaster ride of my early life, I returned to graduate school to earn a degree in special education in 1980. I wasn’t interested in a serious relationship, and when meeting men who were interested, I would briefly describe my recent life. Usually this was enough for them to turn and run, but not for all. After telling my story one time, a young man said, “It’s as if God came down, wiped your slate clean, and you got to start all over again.”

Each day I try to live by these words and start each day with a clean slate, freefrom yesterday’s negative interruptions. A few years after becoming a teacher in 1997, I began feeling the benefits of daily TCC practice. Not only was I physically healthier, I was also able to free myself from past emotional scars and begin to move on. The past was still past, but it did not cloud the present. I was lighter, freer. Daily TCC practice could be viewed as the eraser clearing the way for a fresh start each day. By the way, the young man who made the enlightening observation and I have been married for over 24 years.