Tai Ji Men Qigong Academy

Tiredness Is Actually Happiness

As a junior high school teacher, I need to read my students’ journals daily. Since junior high school students have a lot of homework and studying to do, I would often see my students complain about how tired they were due to the heavy study load and numerous tests. Writing complaints about this situation in their journals had become their habit, and by doing so they unknowingly accumulated negative energy in them. Naturally the negativity affected not only themselves but also those who read their journals, including their parents and me. There are 37 students in my class; therefore, I would receive 37 doses of negative energy daily.

I knew this had to stop because these words of complaint would make those who read them tired too. I thought of the teaching of my Shifu at Tai Ji Men, where I practice qigong. He told us to do everything with a cheerful heart and view our study and work as a challenging game that we enjoy playing. Everything will be wonderful if we change our attitude.

As I thought of my Shifu’s words, I suddenly had an idea of how to guide my students not to complain any more. I asked them, "Did you know that when you said you were tired every day, you actually were experiencing the happiness of life?" They were puzzled at my words. Therefore, I told them, "Pronounce the two parts that make up the Chinese character for "tiredness." They replied in one voice, "happy." I proudly said, "Told you." They burst into laughter. Then I explained to them, "We need to learn to express good wishes for ourselves rather than curse ourselves. Therefore, whenever you have the urge to utter complaints or say you are tired, replace the statement "I’m so tired today" with the statement "I’m so happy today." Actually you can do more. You can write in your daily entry a good wish for yourself, your family, classmate, or teacher. "

Gradually, a magical effect has appeared. My students started to face their stress in a positive way, and their parents found that their children had stopped writing complaints in their journals. The parents feel happy that their children have started to express themselves positively. Of course, I am the person that benefits the most from their change because now I receive 37 statements of kind intentions and 37 doses of happy energy!

Now I no longer regard reading their journals as a difficult task. On the contrary, I anticipate the moment to open their journals! I am grateful to my Shifu Dr. Hong, Tao-Tze, Zhang-men-ren of Tai Ji Men, for teaching me the wisdom of life. Applying his teaching into my career has made a terrific impact!