T'ai Chi: Taking the next step

In a few weeks, my T'ai Chi instructor's Chinese master will be visiting us from Atlanta. I'm mildly intimidated by the idea of working with a real live master from China and I hope that I can prove worthy of his standards. What's even scarier is that at that time, during his visit, I am thinking of going ahead and trying to become a certified instructor with the T'ai Chi Association of America. That would give me the possibility of a second career when I retire in 5 years and I could begin to offer classes on my own at some venue, maybe even at the new sports training facility that Jason opened last fall. I think I might discuss it with him if I pass my certification. I don't know when I would have time with my already full schedule, but it would be a way to make some extra money if Jason could find me a good slot to offer classes. I would have to figure out a pricing structure and I don't know exactly what that would be, but I could ask him what he thinks I ought to charge if all of this comes together and I can make it happen. To say that I am nervous as hell is an understatement, but I think that this would be a good time to go ahead and take that step and go to the next level with my T'ai Chi studies. Over time, I could gain advanced certifications as I grow in my skill levels and really make a career of this if I should so desire. I've been wondering what I'd do with myself in five years time and this might just make an excellent way to transit into something new that I actually enjoy doing. I haven't got a clue as to what all is going to be involved in the certification process and I am going to have to find out what I will have to do and how much it is going to cost me, as those are going to be significant factors as to whether or not I go through with this, but it is something that I have been giving a lot of thought to recently and now that Master Chong is coming up to visit, well, there's no time like the present to make this a reality if I can make it all happen for myself.

EARTH DAY

Today is Earth Day, which all began in 1970 as a fledgling environmental movement. There is no more urgent time than the present to really ramp up environmental concerns, as the price of a barrel of oil has once again reached record levels of near $120 a barrel and we are beginning the great scramble for energy as China and India emerge as major industrial powers and require oil to run their factories and all of the cars needed by their workers to reach their places of employment. We are going to have to figure out new ways to create sustainable power, because as things stand now, we are living in an unsustainable environment with unchecked development, disappearing green spaces, food shortages caused by the creation of biofuels and global climate change and so much more. If we don't start working on sustainable energy now, we are going to be in a very bad place in not more than a few years. Scientists have been warning us for years that it would not be long before we reached "Peak Oil" and supplies would begin to diminish. Well, that has already begun. Supplies are painfully short and prices are ridiculously high as a result, and no one seems to be coming up with an immediate solution. The problem is that there might not be an immediate solution and that it could take years of research and development before we create sustainable energy solutions that will wean us off of foreign oil from hostile regimes. We should have begun this process back during the oil shocks of the mid-1970's, but we didn't, and now we've squandered 30 years during which we could have developed new ways of fueling our cars and industries that would have allowed us to remain a strong nation instead of one that is becoming increasingly dependent on other countries to stay afloat. Time is running short to come up with sustainable solutions and the sooner we begin, the better equipped we'll be when oil gets to be so expensive that it will wreak havoc on our economy. I know - not a very cheery outlook this Earth Day, but we can take advantage of it by pressing our lawmakers to endorse the Apollo Alliance, http://www.apolloalliance.org/ and create millions of good, high paying green collar jobs. Go to this web site and take the Earth Day 2008 Challenge to reduce your carbon footprint by 15% in 2008. If we all do this, we can save a great deal of energy and in the process, make a cleaner earth for ourselves and our posterity. Do it today, for Mother Earth.