On and on he goes, Satan. Thing of it is, he's right. No lies at all. No lies this time. Even the "too hard" -- it is too hard, to do something faster than we can do it. But it's not too hard to do as fast as we can do it. Which this isn't. Satan loves the truth. He loves most of the truth. Sometimes it's all, or mostly, or at least some lies. You can't do it. You're not good enough. But he knows he has to stick with the truth, mostly. Because we can hear the lie, but we can be fooled by the truth. It is hard. There is another 12 minutes. The heat is unpleasant. If we save it now we will finish stronger. You shouldn't argue with what is true. It's just that in this particular circumstance, truth is invented by what you do. You choose your truth.
Just as you get started, remind yourself about mental attitude. That's a strategy that has to be practiced, trained. Start with a short workout. Develop a monologue, see what works, what's effective. It will be different with different people. It will be a trial-and-error thing, because not all theories are correct. There are workouts designed to identify mental techniques that work. There are p-factor workouts, there are positive attitude workouts. Because every champion understands at some level that he will succeed. No maybe about it. "Champion" is a confusing word, because we think it involves other people. Where most people are, they just have to beat themselves.
It's just psychology. Like the idea of sacredness, separateness. Every religion has it, in the solemnity of its rites. The High Priest of Israel, we read, would be struck dead if he entered the Holy of Holies with an impure mind, with his sins unatoned. That's why he entered with a rope tied around his ankle -- if he where struck dead in there, they could drag him out.
Application: attitude matters. Tai chi is not a form of exercise. It's a form of meditation. Exercise also may be most productive when it is a form of meditation. Because it's all about the brain anyway, its neurons and its hormones. And the brain is just the sponge that holds the fluid of the mind -- as it were. It's just a sort of meat. It is the servant, we are the master. Aren't untrained dogs obnoxious? Isn't it annoying when kids have bad manners and incompetent parents? And isn't it a huge mistake, when you listen to your meathead instead of your wisdom?
There are stratagems. A script, a visualization, a theatre-of-the-mind progression. "Incremental velocity". "Integral veclusion". Heh. Who knows -- the universe is ripe with potentialities. Music, for example, bypasses the mind and goes straight for the emotions and subconscious. That's why it's dangerous. The rhythm alone should make a difference, without even touching the subconscious. A matrix, a scaffolding, to organize unconscious energy. A cue toward a mental attitude. A way of keying into and associating with past successes -- picking up where you left off. Something to occupy the mind, other than failure talk.
It's simple and it's complex, exercise. If we didn't have any bad habits, we'd practically be perfect. In any case, the only voice we should listen to is the one that encourages us to excellence.
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