Life in Motion

The lure of anticipation

My work requires me to anticipate on a daily basis - more commonly known as “risk management” in the industry. It’s a nice sounding term but it cracks the brain, literally. We need to come up with scenarios, however unlikely, so that we have a system in place which is robust enough to deal with these “what ifs”.

All these future expectations is conflicting with what I am trying to do away with, anticipating. You see, one of the big “no no” in push hands is to anticipate the next move, because once you anticipate, you’ll lose the moment and if the next action is not as anticipated, then you’ll be in a disadvantageous position. That’s why we are trained to “listen” to the opponent’s movement rather than anticipate.

With all the thinking going on in my head, no wonder my teacher says that those who think too much, can’t progress much in Tai Ji. We cannot be in that moment. We cannot be present to the moment. Always thinking about the next move, possibly thinking about what’s for dinner as well.

All these is assuming that anticipation is bad for us. Why? Let’s see… If we create too high an expectation, and we didn’t reach it, we’ll feel that we haven’t accomplished what we have set out to achieve. If we create too low an expectation, and we achieved it, although fulfilling our expectation, we have artificially created an “achievement ceiling”, a goal post which if it didn’t exist, we may well shoot beyond it, way beyond it.

So why are we so tempted to anticipate even though we know it’s bad for us?

If push hands have got anything to teach, it’s this. It’s easier to anticipate than not to anticipate. The conscious mind thrives in this kind of environment. It seeks for your attention and gives you a high if you win, just like winning the lottery - you’ve anticipated the right number.

While anticipating is easy, the “happiness” it gives is only temporary. If you don’t anticipate, you just do it and accept the consequences. Any situation can be turned into an opportunity for you to express yourself, if you are brave enough to know yourself, the real you. The truth shall set you free. Anticipating will not.

© 2008 shang lee . com.