This is the core question which has driven my approach to life over the last few years.
It's driven me because I realised that I'm always being forged.
I'm always being shaped, moulded, created. And this is being done by all sorts of things.
Forged by the natural world, by culture, friends, commerce, social media, the food I eat, the tools I use, what I choose to pay attention to…
The QiGong I practice.
We are continually being forged.
So how involved can we really be in our forging?
That's part of what QiGong really opened me up to: very.
And it's not about escaping the forging. It's inevitable. It's choosing how it lands, how it effects us, the exact angle of the blow, the timing, how deep we let it go, how we transform that which doesn't feel aligned with our nature, where we place our attention…
And QiGong has been my anchor for this. Because QiGong isn't about a form. It's an approach to life that at heart says:
"You are involved every moment in the forging of your Qi (or life energy)".
You are always doing your Life's work. Everything you do effects it.
So what is forging you?
A simple exercise:
Write down the top 5 things from any one of these areas:
- The 5 people you spend the most time with
- The 5 things you spend the most time doing
- The 5 things you pay the most attention to
Now feel how these 5 things influence you, the whole of them. How does this feel, how do these 5 things shape and forge you?
Now change just one thing
If you're thinking at any point, 'wow, I wish that was different', pick one thing/person/activity that you'd want more of that’s not on the list. Take out one item on the list and put them in it instead. How does this feel? Can you commit to having more of that one thing?
If there's lots you want to change, don't! Trying to change too much at once is one of the best ways to not change anything. That list with one thing different, it feels different yes?
If you change one thing, you change the whole.
What do you will to chage?