Tao Te Ching, Chapter 78
remember
to be at your best
pattern yourself after water
nothing in all the world is softer or more powerful
nothing in all the world can substitute for it
nothing in all the world can stop it
in their hearts
everyone easily knows that
the soft and weak
will always overcome the hard and strong
but they find it difficult to live this way
the secret is to
move the bodymind like water
By Lao Tzu
Translation by John Bright-Fey
In my quest to understand what lasting happiness really means, this is a lesson I am trying to learn. Don’t fight obstacles. Don’t worry about obstacles. Don’t internalize conflicts brought about by obstacles. Just flow around any and all problems like water.
Easier said than done. This is a mindset I aspire to. Thus far, my aspirations are still very much a work-in-progress. I do believe that this is an important formula for inner peace, however, which is (when coupled with gratitude) the same thing as happiness. Don’t fight problems. Accept them, and peacefully flow around them. That is real power. That is real happiness.
Of course, if you are watery like me, and you aspire to keep flowing, sometimes you will encounter obstacles that have the whole path dammed up, and you will end up flooding the person or persons creating the obstacle with all of your watery depths. I guess that’s okay. Flooding over the dam is better than sitting still with it and stagnating.
Go with the flow, my people. Nothing can stop a spirit that flows on and on like a gentle stream.
