⬇⬇⬇ READ THE FIRST 10 PAGES OF THIS BOOK FOR FREE! ⬇⬇⬇
Jade Fox had just turned eighteen years old, and in the last few days had graduated to the level of senior monk at the Shaolin Temple. Even though he was still relatively young, he was the absolute best student at the temple. He was not just great in one area of training, but he excelled in all areas of training at the temple, from weapons and strikes to agility, meditation, and even qing gong, which was a skill reserved for very few students. Only the best students were given the honor of studying qing gong under the kung fu master who had spent his whole life dedicated to the ‘light body’ skill, and was considered more of a grandmaster due to the extraordinary skill he had gained as a result of the strict dedication on a daily basis to the training regime that he had developed for himself, and had practiced for the last twenty-five years.
Jade Fox had now made the decision to focus on qing gong training and to dedicate his life also to this rare art. Qing gong could be translated into English as lightness skill, that is, the skill of making your body lighter in weight, so that you can perform gravity-defying feats that normal people cannot perform. In essence, qing gong is the development of a supernatural power that at its highest level can actually allow the practitioner or student to acquire the ability of levitation and eventually even flight.
Jade Fox, or just Fox, as he was known by both fellow students and teachers at the temple, had always dreamed of being able to fly since a very young age. Other kids also dreamed of flying, but Fox’s dreams of flight were not just average dreams. Fox’s dreams of flight were so real and so dynamic that even when he awoke from his dreams, he had the feeling that what had taken place inside his dreams was actually real, but in the future.
Now that he was eighteen years of age, he was given the right to choose a certain skill to focus on, and of course he had chosen qing gong. Everyone knew how crazy he was about studying qing gong full time, and people were even getting tired of hearing Fox talking about how one day he would possess the skill of levitation and flight, but although Fox believed it in his own mind, the other students and teachers did not share the same level of enthusiasm or self-belief that Fox had trained himself to accept as his future reality.
Jade Fox had intently listened to the stories that the masters had related to them late in the evenings at the temple. There was a particular story, or perhaps it was more of a legend, about a monk in ancient China, hundreds of years ago, who had discovered the secret to levitation, and this monk had not just achieved levitation, but had also discovered how to move around in the air and fly. In time, and with consistent and determined practice each and every day, this monk had been able to increase his flying speed until he was able to fly quite fast across the countryside, over the mountains and valleys, across the rivers and lakes, and able to traverse great distances with his seemingly magickal flying ability.
However, not wanting to disrupt normal society, this magickal monk chose only to fly around at night time, so that he could remain undetected by normal people in the villages that he might fly past at night. This monk had learned not only how to increase his flight speed, but also increase his altitude during flight, so that eventually, after many years of flight training, he was able to actually fly up in the sky amongst the clouds. He was careful to keep his flight skill as secret as possible, but rumors had spread across China of the extraordinary ability that this simple man had achieved.
Upon hearing this tale from his masters, Jade Fox always grew very excited inside his mind and heart, but he did not show this excitement outwardly, as he was worried his fellow students may think him to be foolish believing in an ancient tale of a flying monk. He knew that although all of the students, including the masters also here at this Shaolin Temple would indeed love to have the ability of levitation and even flight, however, in their hearts, they just did not truly believe that such a thing was really possible for them. They did not possess the faith necessary to achieve something so incredibly miraculous, for actual human flight was almost like having the power of a god, and most people in the world do not and cannot envision themselves as having such incredible power.
This is where Jade Fox was different. He did indeed believe that levitation and flight were possible for him, but only if he pushed himself to his absolute limits, and then even further still. He knew in every fiber of his being that he could achieve flight in his lifetime, and not only that he could, but that he would, and he would show not just the Shaolin Temple his great achievements, but he would show the whole world what humans were truly capable of if they really dedicated themselves completely to a goal of their choosing.
After Jade Fox had heard the legendary tale of the flying monk for the first time from one of his masters, later that evening, he swore to himself that he would one day be able to fly, that he would find a way to do it, that he would rediscover the ancient secrets that had been lost hundreds of years ago.
Jade Fox had been raised in the temple since a baby, as his parents had both died when their small village had been raided by bandits. Fox did not even know what his parents had looked like, but it did not matter, because now his real parents were the masters and grandmasters that worked and lived at the temple. He looked up to them as his parents and also as his mentors, and they had raised him to be strong and to take care of himself. That is one of the reasons why Fox was one of the greatest students that the Shaolin Temple had ever seen, because he had been raised here since he was a baby, but also because he had a very straight moral compass and work ethic, each day training with a higher level of commitment and dedication than the other students.
He would rise in the mornings before the other students, and he would train through his lunch break and even when they had the occasional day off, he would not rest. He had a very strong drive in him to be the best, to be the greatest Shaolin monk that had ever lived. He wanted to become a legend, so that even hundreds of years after his death, other student monks would look upon his statue and be instilled with the courage and belief necessary for them to achieve greatness in their own lives.
The other monk students at the temple had the feeling that Fox looked down on them, as though Fox thought he was better than them, superior to them, and in truth, he did want to be superior to them, not in an arrogant way, but in a way that allowed his personal greatness to shine. Fox always thought that rest or laziness was for the dead, that when you die, you can rest for eternity, but while you are still alive you should be striving towards the absolute greatest that you can possibly achieve in life. Your ultimate potential must be released from your spirit, your heart and your mind, and only by doing that, by releasing your full potential, Fox believed that someone could truly live a happy, fulfilled and satisfied life, so that when it comes time to die, you can look back on your life and know that you gave it your all, and that you have no regrets.
Jade Fox was still relatively young, and so he knew that if he continued to train hard, he could even become a grandmaster by the age of thirty or forty. It was not impossible to achieve this, although it had never been done before. Fox knew that to achieve grandmaster status one had to display not only the absolute best qualities of a Shaolin monk, but that one had to be great in every area of one’s life. There had to be balance in everything. Words or thoughts were simply not enough for Jade Fox, and actions had to be taken. If you say you are going to do something, then you do it.
Mental strength and fortitude were of paramount importance in Fox’s mind, and he believed that you need to have a mind as razor sharp as the finest sword crafted by the best swordsmith in all the lands. By having a great and sharp mind, one can cut through all the garbage that is not important in life. So much time can be wasted in life, but if your mind is strong enough, you can avoid time-wasting thoughts and actions, and dedicate yourself and your whole life, every minute, to becoming the greatest person that you can possibly be. That was what the masters had instilled in Jade Fox during his life so far at the temple.
Fox believed that becoming great was not an option, but that it was one’s duty to achieve greatness in life, to achieve the best that you can possibly achieve, and he knew that this ideal could and should be applied across all areas of life, not just at the temple, but for all types of work, such as in the business world and at home. Fox liked to always think of the caterpillar and butterfly analogy, where during the first quarter or even half of your life, you go around like a caterpillar, shuffling along, a little confused about life, not seeing clearly and observing the world from a low level, then, you become frustrated with life, tired of being lowly and poor and average with all the other bugs that crawl around on the ground with no ambition for greatness.
The caterpillar then decides that it wants to be more than just a ground-dwelling creature, and that it wants to reach its full potential in its life, and it forms a chrysalis, goes inside for many days, and when it emerges, it is a majestic and beautiful creature that can actually fly. Fox thought it to be miraculous that this could actually happen in life. It was like magic, but it was real and it was true, and Fox knew that if these simple little creatures could do it, then a human being, with all the intelligence and resources at its disposal, could definitely transform themselves and achieve greatness in their lifetime. That it should not just be a possibility, but should be an absolute obligation to develop and craft yourself into the best human being that you could ever possibly become.
Even though Jade Fox trained hard each and every day, he always managed to find time to just sit with nature and contemplate life. He believed in an overall balance, which was the only way to have true happiness and satisfaction. There is no point in being a genius and being fat, as you will always wish you were slim when looking in the mirror. Just as there is no point having great kung fu fighting skills if you have no self-control over your mind and emotions, for it will land you in a lot of trouble, getting into fights and situations that you may later regret.
Jade Fox had heard of stories of people who had grown up in poor conditions, with absolutely nothing to their name, and they had later gone on to become millionaires and even billionaires. These people were shining examples of what was possible for anyone to achieve. Most people looked upon the rich with envy and jealousy, but for Fox, it was inspirational that one person could gather so much wealth in just a few short decades of hard work. Fox knew that time passed by at the same rate for everyone on the planet, that nobody could slow down time and have an advantage over others. But what one could do was to maximize every hour, minute and second, and use every moment of time to their advantage in becoming the great being that they know in their hearts they can become, whatever that is in life, whether it be physical, mental or spiritual.
Jade Fox had contemplated the idea of time a lot in his life, especially while lying in bed at night waiting to fall asleep. He knew that time was mysterious, that it could not be captured, contained, or saved. Once time had passed, there was no getting it back, and so if a person spends their time doing that which they feel is most important in their life, then it can lead them towards the accomplishment of their goals, and is time well spent, and at the end of the day, they will be able to look back on the day that has just passed and know in their hearts that they made the right decisions and choices with what to do with their time in that day, and that the hard work that they put in today, will most assuredly pay dividends in the future.
However, Fox knew the reality of life for most people, and although the majority of people did actually have secret dreams of success in the back of their minds, that they would never find the true commitment or dedication necessary to achieve these dreams, and that the motivation or courage to follow these dreams and goals would evade them, resulting in them wasting minute after minute, hour after hour, day after day, and year after year, in pointless pursuits that although may bring temporary or fleeting happiness, do not bring the true satisfaction and fulfilment that comes from achieving that which is most important for you in your life.
Jade Fox was aware that most people went to their grave with their greatness not yet expressed, that they knew at the moment of their death that they had lived only average lives, and that going back to the past to change things and create a better life was not an option. Therefore, Jade Fox knew that while a person still has life ahead of them, they should absolutely strive for greatness, and that an average life or existence can bring about great feelings of regret and unhappiness later in life when you enter the period of old age.
This explains why Fox wanted to become the greatest Shaolin monk that he could possibly become, not so much because he wanted to be better than everyone else, but because he wanted to prove to himself that he really could achieve his true potential and maximize that greatness that was contained and wrapped up within each cell of his body, and in each strand of his DNA, just waiting to be nurtured and transformed into incredible success that other people would stand in awe and amazement of.
All this Jade Fox kept to himself. He did not discuss these things with the other students, because he did not want them to think that he was more special than they were, or that he was gifted with a higher intelligence, and so he simply kept himself to himself each day, kept his head down, did his basic chores and his basic training, and then any time that he had left over he would spend improving every aspect of himself, from his martial techniques, to his agility and flexibility, all the way to the housekeeping, making sure the dishes were washed and the floor was swept clean. Fox was intelligent enough to know that by bringing up greatness in every single aspect of his life, even the most mundane things such as washing the dishes or sweeping the floor, and by incorporating this greatness into every activity, he knew that his time was not being wasted and that he was continuing to develop himself, making his mind sharper and more agile with every day that passed, while the other students were happy just to meet the bare minimum requirements for life at the Shaolin Temple.
Jade Fox did not look down on the other students, he simply felt sorry for them, that they did not understand the things he understood. Or maybe they did understand, but were just too lazy or incompetent to see life for what it really was, an opportunity to prove greatness to yourself and to others. Normal people respected great people. Great people had advantages over normal people, and that was just the way the world worked. It seemed as though the harder you worked in life, towards your goals, the easier life became, because each day of hard work pays such high dividends, that life returns or repays your hard work with higher standards of living, and in general, better things start to come into your life when you are focused wholeheartedly on working hard to achieve your goals and dreams.
It had not always been this way for Jade Fox. When he was just entering his teenage years, although he had been training hard every day, he did notice that some of the other students, a select few, had begun overtaking him in terms of skill level. Until then, they had all been pretty much on the same level, but then these few other fellow monks had begun taking training much more seriously, and the results were noticeable in terms of their ability to outdo him in a variety of different aspects of training, especially endurance and strength training.
Jade Fox did not like this at all, seeing some of the other students beginning to surpass him, and although he felt envy, even a touch of jealousy in his heart, he did not speak a word of this to any of the other students, or to the masters either. Instead, he kept it to himself, and used these emotions he was feeling to fuel the fire in his own heart to increase his dedication and rise up above all the other students at the Shaolin Temple. To rise up so high and so rapidly that all the other students would simply just give up trying to catch up with his great success. They would instead just attribute his amazing and spectacular success with being naturally gifted by the gods, that it was just natural innate talent that was now beginning to reveal itself in the Jade Fox’s life.
Jade Fox knew differently though, he knew that he had not been bestowed with any natural gifts or talents, that the gods had not shined their light generously on him alone. Fox knew that it had taken the highest degrees of hard work, sweat and tears to get to where he was now. Yes, Jade Fox could now be considered a great success already, even though he had not yet reached twenty years of age, but Fox knew in his heart that he had barely scratched the surface of what he was truly capable of doing with his life in this world. He knew and could feel the potential for greatness surging within him, around his body, igniting his passions for even greater success every second of every waking hour. He knew that even if he tried to convey these feelings to his fellow students even at this relatively young age, that they would not truly understand the depth and profound nature of his words, his knowledge and his wisdom.
He especially did not share these thoughts with his masters at the Shaolin Temple, because he did not want them thinking that Fox thought that he was above them in any way. Jade Fox remained completely humble in front of others, even at times when a part of him wanted to shout out and express his true feelings and emotions. He knew that in most cases, the best course of action was to remain silent. Silence was one of the most powerful weapons at a person’s disposal, and Jade Fox knew this all too well.