Recently, we decided to invest some of our most valuable resource, time, into connecting with a group we haven’t since we started the family project with the birth of our kids.  After six to eight years and occasional attendance at the Taoist Tai Chi Society, we found a warm open reception.  People were pleased at seeing us in such a while.  Many commented about how our kids have grown or how we have aged.  We saw friends we hadn’t seen in years.  We also found a separation of sorts.  We changed.  The organization changed.  The people we connected with years ago also changed.  Some changes we appreciate.  Some we question.  Even so, the unchanging aspects, the soul of the people, the group and ourselves remained.

Out of this center of ourselves, we stay connected albeit not as common or perhaps as strong as used to be.  We are all looking after the business of you in our own ways.  Life moves on and we integrate with those we interact with on a regular basis.  Adaptation to our environment is inescapable.  We change whether we choose to or not.  Life is ongoing.  Change happens.  The question to ask is whether we value the changes.  Do we value what we have become?  Do we value what those we continue to integrate have become?

Relating this to the last couple weeks of posts, are we meeting our own expectations of ourselves?  Are we achieving what we set out to do?  For my wife and I, we are.  We didn’t know what it would be like raising a family and the extent of energy and time this project would absorb.  We didn’t realize it would take us on a path away from being national instructors, volunteer board members and international representatives of the organization.  However, we did know it was our choice and our responsibility to see it through.  I suppose that’s the most important thing, owning up to our choices and enjoying the paths that unwind before us.