Never. Until Now.

I met T’ai Chi Chih in a park 18 years ago. It called out to me. “Hey you, with the brisk stride and tense shoulders, come over here.” “You talking to me?” “Yes, you. What’s that worried look and furrowed brow about?” “Dunno.” “You need me.” And thus began a love story that has sustained me through the years and through many trials and tribulations.

I’ve always been a worrier. I can outdo anybody any day. It must be in my DNA. I worry if a loved one arrives late, or a text goes unanswered, or the phone rings late in the evening or the flowers bloom too early. I would have said that I knew everything about worrying, in all its manifestations, from its depths to its heights and everything in between; and maybe I would have been right.

Until now.

Never before have we all had occasion to worry about all our loved ones at once, no matter their age and their state or country of residence. Never before have the postman and the plumber and the printer all posed a risk. Never before have Clorox and rubbing alcohol been on our minds more than coffee and wine.

Never.

The daily news breaks our hearts, the stewards of our blighted benighted planet fumble in desperation and we strive to hold ourselves together. For a born worrier like me this time we are in would have been impossible without a powerful grounding daily discipline. Now, more than ever, I am grateful for my good fortune of having such a discipline. T’ai Chi Chih has a magical way of calming the mind, soothing the soul and warming the heart. Morning practices give us strength to weather the rest of the day and evening practices give us something to look forward to. And from TCC comes the delightful community of kindred spirits, which, in its own right is as magnificent a blessing as the practice itself.

Thus it is that repeatedly every day I say, “Justin Stone, rest in peace.”