Tai Ji Men Qigong Academy

Thinking Good Thoughts and Doing Good Deeds

The worldwide economic recession in recent years has caused many companies to lose their businesses. As a result, many people have been forced to accept unpaid vacations or have been laid off.

Some of my patients have also experienced the impact of this recession, and one of them is a worker at a steel factory. He is a young, vigorous aboriginal, whose backbone and ankle were damaged at work. After surgery and a period of rehabilitation, he recovered quite well. On his recent follow-up visit, I was pleased to report that the tension in his muscles had eased significantly.?Rather than being pleased with this news, he, however, was surprisingly depressed. He said, “Recently I have been on an unpaid vacation and have been resting. Of course my muscles have improved.” I was very concerned about him, so I asked him, “Do you have enough money for your daily expenses?”He replied, “I have only one third of my salary left. I have been tempted to jump.’” Noticing a puzzled look on my face, he explained, “There is a huge melting pot in the factory. Every time I walk by it, I am tempted to jump into it to end my misery.”

At this moment, my Shifu Dr. Hong, Tao-Tze’s teaching came into my mind. I have been practicing qigong at Tai Ji Men for several years, and my Shifu frequently reminds us that “Thinking good thoughts can improve the world’s destiny.” Therefore, I tried to help this patient release his stress by joking with him. Seeing that he was able to laugh at my jokes, I told him, “You are very young and healthy, and you still have a job. If you need more money, maybe you could get a part time job. Or you can use this vacation to take good care of your health so that when the economy recovers, you will be able to make more money.” He was happy and excited after hearing my suggestions. Before he left my office, he thanked me for my advice. I felt very happy for having done a good deed that day.

A few weeks later, my medical group had a festive celebration at the end of the year. In the past few years, I would simply say a short statement “Thank you” to my employees on this occasion because I worried that a long speech would not be appreciated. This year, a day before the dinner party, I met a member of the Tai Ji Men Qigong Academy, and I told him about the conversation with my patient. He urged me to share the story with other doctors.

I took his advice and shared the story at the gathering this year. Since my co-workers are all good compassionate doctors, they all agreed that we should pay extra attention to our patients when the financial environment is undergoing a recession because a doctor’s job is to save lives. Sometimes, good words can save a life or prevent a tragedy. I was very pleased that my co-workers had very positive reactions to the story. ?

After the party, I reflected on the whole thing and felt thankful to the Tai Ji Men member who urged me to share the story because my co-workers and I care for more than a hundred thousand patients each year. If every doctor would give extra attention to his or her patients, these patients would be greatly benefited. If it were not for the Tai Ji Men member’s timely reminder, I would have missed out on the good opportunity to do good deeds.

When the world is experiencing such a disruptive recession, we should always think positive thoughts, and take advantage of every possible opportunity to take care of, encourage, and inspire others because a single good thought or a nice statement from us could be a lifesaver for another person.