The Art of Non-Resistance

When we are punched (as in a real fight), we instinctively resist the punch by tensing our muscles, forcing our balance, and resisting the incoming force as much as possible. We may block it hard it with our hands, using more or the same amount of strength as the incoming force, resulting in a hard-vs-hard situation which damages ourselves too.

In fighting system such as Wing Tsun, Tai Chi, etc, the teaching rarely encourages hard-vs-hard blocks or reaction. Instead, it encourage deflection of the incoming forces or flow with the incoming forces and use it to your advantage. This minimizes tremendous self-damages as compared to hard blocks.

In life, we faced several hardships. Difficult or bad situations are forced onto us like an incoming punch to our body. Some people, like a warrior, face it strongly and work very hard to overcome which results in stress and lack of balance to life. Some people, like a defeated dog, take the punches and become a victim to the situation.

It may be hard to see that a bad situation can do any good to us. There is no way to justify honestly how much we enjoy burning midnight oil to complete a project or to study for a paper. However, just as an incoming punch is definitely harmful to our body if we receive it head-on, a bad situation is definitely stressful to our body if we just receive it head-on.

A simple example of how we commonly receive a bad situation head-on:
"Oh, my bank bill again... Oh gosh I gotta pay so much every month... I am working for the bank!"

It is clear that in our life, forces of all kinds of situation hurl towards us in various degrees of power. We may not be able to stop bank bills from coming but we are definitely able to stop receiving it with negative reaction or head-on. We can learn to divert such forces.

Back to our bank bill problem:
"Oh, it's my bank bill... well I am glad that I have enough in my account to pay it off *smiles*"
Or if the bank bill is for your house loan:
"Oh, it's the repayment bill for my OWN home"
Or a spiritual approach:
"Oh, my bank bill... This is my lesson to learn about attracting better things in life!"

This is NOT different from appreciation or positive thinking. They are the same. It's all about how to handle incoming forces in our daily life with a more constructive response.