Quick Fix

Last weekend during the “Visionary Living” expo, I had an interesting experience with the encounter of Qi (or Chi, Ki, energy).

Out of the hundreds of stalls, there was one stall caught my attention immediately. There were three Qi practitioners simultaneously doing Qi healings on three ‘patients’. Some strange sounds were released from their months from time to time with altering velocity which felt kind of funny and amusing. I decided to try this healing therapy. After all it only cost $35.

When it was my turn, one of the practitioners lay me on a table. Apart from a few very gentle butterfly style of bodily contact, the whole 30 minutes or thereabout healing took place mostly by his hand movements along my body (but no contact). When I got off the table, I immediately felt much better. The aches, stress and muscle tightness miraculously disappeared!

Apparently he had unblocked some of my Qi blockage and re-directed my negative energy. When the negative energy is gone and positive energy is retained, naturally you can’t help but feel wonderful. I was thinking: How nice it would be if he had unblocked all my blockages in my channel permanently so that my body would not suffer aches any more!

The next day the aches came back. Nothing seemed to have changed. I was kind of disappointed. I was not disappointed with the Qi practitioner; I was disappointed with myself: How naïve was I to even think that a chronic problem would be solved by a quick fix in 30-minutes? What a shame for even having that thought!

I actually fully understand that a chronic problem usually takes a long time to heal because it takes a long time to develop. We never become fat overnight. It’s the dietary habit and lifestyle we adopt over the years that pile up the unwanted kilos. Similarly, we don’t happen to have ill health or experience constant low energy. It’s the pattern we develop day after day, month after month and year after year on how we breath, eat, drink, sit, stand, walk, sleep and think that leads to the current state of our health. For every problem there is a cause. For every lasting problem, there is a lasting cause. At least that's what I believe.

However, most of us don’t like this notion. We like the notion of ‘quick fix‘. Anything that promises overnight miracle grabs our attention. Our lives are too busy. We don’t have the time required for a long-term cure. Besides, it takes too much effort! It’s too hard! We can’t wait! That’s why all the info-mercial these days offer quick fix solutions. For example, today one of the office girls told me that her coach in her gym promised her that she would lose 20 pounds in 2 weeks if she followed his exercise programme and recommended diet(according to this diet, no fruit is allowed as it contains sugar). She was pretty excited about it as I could tell by her facial expression. I only hope that she achieves her weight loss but I doubt if it's a sustainable and healthy way.

I think the problem these days is that marketing has to sell what people want to hear instead of what they need to hear. Imagine an advert like this: An effective weight loss programme which guarantee a 20 pounds weight loss in 2 years and a further loss of 20 pounds in the following 2 years and by the end of the 5th year you would look like a fitness queen - would there be anyone who buys into this programme? Probably none! Yet this programme may well be a truthful and effective programme which may benefit you for a life time as you learn to master the discipline.

Having a goal is important. Reaching the goal is exciting. Yet it is the journey in pursuing the goal makes us become a better person. It is through diligence, determination, discipline and hard work that we change the very fibre of our well-being. In this way, we literally change on a cellular level; we become stronger, healthier and more beautiful naturally.

Don’t go after quick fixes in life. They’ll never work. Why? Because quick fix violates some of the most basic laws of the universe: cause and effect, sowing and reaping, action and reaction. To want a quick fix work permanently is just as ridiculous as attempting to violate other laws such as the law of gravity. Jump off a cliff, and you’re going to plummet to the Earth – 100% of the time.