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A great accomplishment might seem to be lacking, but its usefulness hasn't declined. A great fullness might seem to be washed away in an instant, but its usefulness hasn't ended. Great skill might seem to be awkward. Great gains might seem like retreats. Great straightforwardness might seem distorted. Moving quickly overcomes the cold. Keeping still overcomes the heat. A clarifying stillness occurs when everything in the world has been settled.   Commentary: 45 ~ Anticipation And Disappointment There are many times in life that we look forward to something spectacular that's going to happen - getting a job promotion, going on a trip, receiving a gift, obtaining love from someone. It might seem as though the aniticipation itself is worrisome, but at least it gives us a goal to look forward to. There's a sense of exhilaration when we finally achieve our goal - and then what? After reaching the goal, there can be a feeling of being let down. All the adrenalin has suddenly been used up, and when we look at what we've achieved it might seem to be less than what we expected it to be. -A great accomplishment might seem to be lacking, but its usefulness hasn't declined. For some reason, people tend to try to find fault with their accomplishments. There might be a sense of fulfillment for a little while, especially if others give you accolades and praise, but then it can turn into a hollow victory. You might wonder if you're any better off after you've accomplished your goal, or if you even deserve what you received. Or you might feel a heavy sense of responsibility for your new "position." The mind can come up with so many ways to create doubt. One thing to remember if you're going through that kind of self-doubt is that whatever it is you've accomplished hasn't lost its usefulness to you. Maybe you're just seeing it through different eyes. -A great fullness might seem to be washed away in an instant, but its usefulness hasn't ended. One minute you might feel like you're walking on air - filled with everything you could ever think you wanted. Then suddenly the carpet's pulled out from under you. What just happened? How can emotions turn so rapidly from a sense of fullness to a sense of utter emptiness? One thing to remember during those times of despair is that both the fullness and the emptiness are useful. Whatever gets too filled up has to eventually overflow, and whatever is too empty has to eventually get filled up again. Just let it happen. -Great skill might seem to be awkward. It might feel a bit awkward to stop second-guessing everything you do and just let yourself naturally accomplish tasks. -Great gains might seem like retreats. It might feel like you’re not getting anywhere when you accomplish tasks more easily, even though everything turned out right. -Great straightforwardness might seem distorted. It might feel odd saying what’s in your heart honestly since you’ve been so conditioned to weigh the effects of each word you were going to say. -Moving quickly overcomes the cold. -Keeping still overcomes the heat. There’s a time to move fast and a time to slow down. If you’re trying to know when to move fast and when to slow down, it’s best to pay attention to what your heart is telling you rather than trying to fulfill demands others put on you or demands you place on yourself. There's a time for everything, and nothing can be forced. If you pay attention to what's going on around you, you'll know that whatever you do, you've done it to the best of your ability at this moment in your life. -A clarifying stillness occurs when everything in the world has been settled. If you accept the adrenalin of the anticipation, the exhilaration of the accomplishment, and the disappointment that might follow - then you've reached a type of stillness. Stillness doesn't mean not experiencing. It means accepting the experience and knowing that it's just another wave on the ocean. The world is settled because you stop trying to make it anything other than what it is. Don’t be so hard on yourself. Alternate translation: You might feel like you’ve really made some headway on a project, but then it might seem insignificant in the long run - it’s still a useful thing for you to have done. You might feel like everything is going your way, but that feeling might leave you because of something else that happens - it’s still a great insight into what makes you happy. You might be really good at doing something, but you don’t understand why. You might get somewhere you really wanted to go, but you wonder if you’ve actually gotten anywhere. You might feel good about speaking honestly from your heart, but then you’d wonder if you really did. If you did what felt right at the moment, why worry about it later? You moved when you had to. You kept still when you had to. Everything is just fine. Dao Is Open Site Map | BY: Nina | Guodian Laozi | DDJ Concordance | Comparisons | Who was Laozi | | Return Home | Laozi's Dao De Jing | Your Dao De Jing | Zhuangzi (Chuang Tzu) | Links | Meditation | Dao (Tao) is Open Forum | Book List | Other Stuff | |
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