Chungliang Al Huang is a Tai Ji master, calligrapher, and author of several books with Jerry Lynch including Working Out, Working Within. He also is founder and president of the Living Tao Foundation and director of the Lan Ting Institute in China. In this interview with Michael Toms, he talks about time, balance, and conscious aging.
Taoist teachings on concentration, focus, centering, intuition, and practice can be applied for any dimension of contemporary life including sports, business, and personal relations. Chungliang Al Huang points out that in China, it is a compliment to say to a person — you look older. The inference is that you have now gained wisdom. Conscious aging is a positive process of saging — enjoying what you have acquired in life through experience. This is a time when you realize that you have learned from your failures — nothing is ever lost. The Chinese have a phrase: "You cannot see the flowers from a galloping horse, you must get down from the horse and look closer." The last stage of life is a time to give up speed for the slow savoring of what lies in front of you.